Blood Substitutes

Book excerpt: Blood substitutes are solutions designed for use in patients who need blood transfusions, but for whom whole blood is not available, or is not safe. This interest has intensified in the wake of the AIDS and hepatitis C epidemics. Blood Substitutes describes the rationale, current approaches, clinical efficacy, and design issues for all blood substitutes now in clinical trials. The many summary diagrams and tables help make the book accessible to readers such as surgeons and blood bankers, who have less technical expertise than the biochemists and hematologists who are designing and testing blood substitutes.* Includes chapters necessary to the understanding of blood substitutes, including history, toxicity, physiology, and clinical applications* Presents detailed descriptions of the various products that have been developed and have advanced to clinical trials, and some that are in earlier states of development