Red cell storage and prognosis.

During storage of red blood cells (RBC), these cells develop storage lesions. The clinical relevance of these storage lesions is heavily discussed in literature. In this review, different aspects of the storage lesion are shown and how these potentially affect posttransfusion performance of the RBC. An overview of the conflicting literature on the clinical relevance of prolonged storage is given, summarizing the evidence on associations with mortality, length of stay, (postoperative) infections and organ failure. Subsequently, possible explanations are given for the conflicting results in the clinical studies and suggestions on how to proceed.