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Leukoreduction, by no means that I know of, can get rid off ALL WBCs in a blood product. So if you are worried about Graft-Versus-Host Disease in an immunocomprimised patient, you do not want to rely on leukoreduction alone. The residual donor WBCs may "engraft" into the host recipient's system, and attack the recipient as a foreign threat. So to avoid GVHD, you must kill all of the WBCs in the donor blood product. This is accomplished with radiation. Scott

All in fun!! I do appreciate the feedback as I need to address this at some point, like yesterday.

They obviously do! Patty, PLEASE do not think I was getting at you. As you will guess from John's post above, this is (just) one of my pet hates. It was nothing personal!

Thank you for the clarification Malcolm. By the way this came right out of the current CAP standards. Maybe they need to be schooled too COMPUTER CROSSMATCHES A computer crossmatch is an electronic method that is used to confirm that the unit is appropriate for transfusion to the intended recipient through the use of validated software logic to determine compatibility, rather than serologic techniques. For laboratories that employ computer crossmatching, serologic crossmatch techniques must be employed when ABO typing discrepancies are present (e.g. mixed field reactivity, missing serum reactivity, apparent change in blood type post hematopoietic stem cell transplant).