Evaluation of a walking-donor blood transfusion program in an intensive care nursery.

A prospective study was carried out to identify the immediate and long-range advantages and disadvantages of a walking-donor transfusion program for an intensive care newborn nursery. The effect of heparin on coagulation of blood was evaluated and found to be minimal. There was no evidence of transmission of HBSAg. The prevalence of CMV infection at the time of follow-up was higher in infants who had received blood from donors seropositive for CMV than in infants who had been transfused from seronegative donors. In our experience, a walking-donor program has been a safe and effective method for the provision of small transfusions of blood to sick neonates.