Abstract
Haematocrit (HCT) and viscosity of whole blood were measured in ten polycythaemic hyperviscous newborn infants both before and after dilutional partial exchange transfusion with 5% albumin. This was performed in order to evaluate the effect on the lowering of HCT and whole blood viscosity. Mean umbilical HCT values decreased from 68.7% before, to 54.4% post transfusion. This decrease in HCT and viscosity was highly significant (P<0.001). Safety and lack of complications make human albumin solution superior to human plasma for exchange transfusion in neonatal polycythaemia.
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Abbreviations
- HCT:
-
haematocrit
References
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Levy, I., Merlob, P., Ashkenazi, S. et al. Neonatal polycythaemia: Effect of partial dilutional exchange transfusion with human albumin on whole blood viscosity. Eur J Pediatr 149, 354–355 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02171566
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02171566