Introduction: Blood transfusion complications are commonly reported, but reactions during hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) product infusion may be overlooked due to infections, medication side effects, and autoimmune reactions. This study investigates the frequency and risk factors of transfusion reactions during HSCT product infusion.
Methods: The study includes 45 female donor cases undergoing HSCT at Hacettepe University Ihsan Doğramacı Children's Hospital Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit between 2000 and 2021. Transfusion reactions were defined according to the ISBT Working Party On Hemovigilance report (July 2011). Various factors were analyzed, including donor's pregnancy history, parity, blood group mismatch, HLA mismatch, product type, manipulation, conditioning regimen, and HSCT complications, using SPSS 22.0.
Results: Transfusion reactions occurred in 31.1% (n=14) of cases during stem cell transplant product infusion. These included febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reaction (50%), transfusion-associated hypotension (14.3%), transfusion-associated dyspnea (14.3%), transfusion-associated circulatory overload (14.3%), and transfusion-related acute lung injury (7.1%). The recipients were 53.4% male and 46.7% female, with mean ages of 6.5 ± 5.25 years and 28.60 ± 7.13 years for recipients and donors, respectively. Of the female donors, 15.6% were primiparous, and 62.2% were multiparous. Conditioning regimens included 20% myeloablative, 71.1% non-myeloablative, and 8.9% with unavailable data. No significant relationships were found between transfusion reactions and conditioning regimen, donor parity, time since last birth, transfusion complication rate, blood group mismatch, product type, or processing (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: This retrospective analysis of HSCT cases from female donors revealed 14 cases with ISBT-diagnosed transfusion reactions during product infusion, unrelated to infection, drugs, or underlying diseases. The study emphasizes the frequency of transfusion reactions in stem cell transplantation. Prospective studies with larger samples are needed to determine risks and establish monitoring protocols.