"Shelf Life" of Blood? Shorter Than We Think, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Study

A small study from Johns Hopkins adds to the growing body of evidence that red blood cells stored longer than three weeks begin to lose the capacity to deliver oxygen-rich cells where they may be most needed. In a report published online in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, the Johns Hopkins investigators say red cells in blood stored that long gradually lose the flexibility required to squeeze through the body's smallest capillaries to deliver oxygen to tissue. Moreover, they say, that capacity is not regained after transfusion into patients during or after surgery.