Older donated blood tied to heart surgery risk

Boston Globe, March 20, 2008

Patients undergoing heart surgery that receive blood that has sat on a refrigerator shelf for two weeks or longer appear to have a higher risk of infection, kidney failure, and even death, according to a study by Cleveland Clinic scientists. Researchers found that cardiac surgery patients who received blood that was more than two weeks old were 30 percent less likely to be alive a year later than those transfused with fresher blood.