HIGHLIGHTS OF TRANSFUSION MEDICINE HISTORY

1 AD In Roman times, the blood of slain gladiators and bulls became a popular drink among warriors.

900 Anglo-Saxon and Druids used leeches for blood letting

1492 First transfusion; Pope Innocence VII

1628 William Harvey demonstrated that blood circulates through the body

1657 Sir Christopher Wren took time out from designing cathedrals to inject some fluids into the circulation
of animals, using equipment developed by William Harvey

1665 The first transfusion experiments were carried out between dogs

1667 The blood of a sheep was transfused into a 15 year old boy

1678 Transfusions from animals to humans was found to be unsuccessful and was outlawed by the Paris
Society of Physicians

1818 James Blundell conducted transfusions in cases of hemorrhages after childbirth and decreed that
species lines should not be crossed

1840 Samuel Armstrong Lane with consultant Dr. James Blundell, performed the first successful
blood transfusion to treat hemophilia

1867 English surgeon, Joseph Lister, used antiseptics to control infection during blood transfusion

1869 Braxton Hicks recommended the used of sodium phosphate for blood preservation

1901 Dr Karl Landersteiner a leading doctor in Vienna discovered the A, B and O groups

1902 The fourth main blood type, AB, was found by Decastrello and Sturli

1907 Hektoen demonstrated the used of crossmatching before blood transfusion

Reuben Ottenberg performed blood typing and crossmatching between donor and patient blood
units before transfusion and recognized the universal utility of group O donors

1908 Alexis Carrel devised a way to prevent blood clotting during transfusion by joining the vein of the donor
to the artery of the patient by surgical sutures but was deemed not feasible
Paved way to the discovery of organ transplantation which he received a Nobel Prize on 1912

1912 Lee recognized all groups as possible donors for type AB patients

1914 Hustin used sodium citrate and glucose as diluents and anticoagulants during blood transfusion;
blood preservation in bottles

1915 Richard Lewisohn, documented to have used sodium citrate as an anticoagulant and determined
the minimum amount of sodium citrate to be used during blood transfusion

1916 Frances Peyton Rous and Jr Turner introduced the use of citrate dextrose for blood
preservation Richard Weil demonstrated the feasibility of refrigeration to store blood
Oswald Robertson was credited to be the creator of blood depots

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1914 -1918 Two major advances took place out of need to relieve the pressure caused by trying to save lives during
the Great War. The first was the discovery that blood could be prevented from clotting once it's removed
from the body by mixing it with sodium citrate. They also discover that blood can last a bit longer if it's put
in a fridge.

1921 The British Red Cross members all decided to give blood at Kings College Hospital, London, and the
first voluntary blood service was born

1926 British Red Cross instituted the first transfusion service in the world

1929 Dr Lucy Bryce founded the first Australian blood bank. The Victorian Red Cross provided the
first transfusion service in Australia. The first blood bank was at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

1932 Bagdasorov introduced blood preservation for 21 days at 4 degree celsius

1936 The Americans opened the world's first blood bank at Cook County Hospital, Chicago.

1937 The British opened their first blood bank in Ipswich.

1938 After the outbreak of war, four large civilian centres were set up near London and at an army centre
near Bristol.

1940 Due to the war a greater need for blood was required. The emergency medical services and the army
set up eight regional transfusion centres. Thousands of civilians donated blood, saving the lives of
many servicemen and civilians.

1939 -1945 The Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service supplied blood for troops and civilians during World War II.

1941 Separation (fractionation) of blood was developed

1943 J.F Loutit and Patrick Mollison introduced ACD as a blood preservative

1939-1943 Levine, Stetson, Landsteiner and Weiner made observations that laid the foundation of our knowledge
about the remaining major blood group - the Rhesus (RH) system. Once a reliable test for Rhesus
grouping had been established, transfusion reactions became rare.

1945 Coombs, Mourant and Race introduced Antihuman Globulin Reagent to identify incomplete antibodies

1950 Screening of blood for syphilis commenced in Canada.

The use of glycerol as cryprotectant was introduced
Carl Walter and W.P Murphy introduced the used of platic bags for blood storage and preservation

1954 The blood product Cryoprecipitate was developed for people suffering from haemophilia.

1954 -1958 Products made from blood plasma were developed to treat diseases such as chicken pox.

1955 The Commonwealth Serum Laboratory began to fractionate blood in large quantities.

1957 Gibson introduced CPD

1969 S. Murphy and F. Gardner demonstrated the feasibility of storing platelets at room temperature

1970 Screening of blood for Hepatitis B commenced in Canada.

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 1970 HLA tissue typing commenced at blood banks for organ transplant.

1972 Apheresis procedure was introduced

1979 CPDA-1 was introduced

1985 Screening of blood for HIV commenced in Canada.

1990 Screening of blood for Hepatitis C commenced in Canada.

1993 Screening of blood for HTLV1 commenced in Canada.

2000 Nucleic acid testing (NAT) for HIV and Hepatitis C commenced in Canada

2002 West Nile virus identified as transfusion transmissible.

Nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) for HIV and HCV was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration.

2003 First-ever National Blood Foundation forum unites leaders in blood banking and transfusion medicine

FDA issues final guidance regarding “Revised Recommendations for the Assessment of Donor Suitability
and Blood and Blood Product Safety in Cases of Known or Suspected West Nile Virus Infection

First West Nile Virus-positive unit of blood intercepted.

Guidance on Implementation of New Bacteria Reduction and Detection Standard issued.

2004 AABB receives $2.4 Million CDC grant to reduce transfusion-transmitted HIV in Africa and South America.

2005 FDA clears apheresis platelets collected with certain systems for routine storage and patient transfusion up
to 7 days when tested with a microbial detection system release test.

FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research publishes compliance program guidance for inspection
of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps).

AABB founding member Tibor Greenwalt dies.

FDA approves the first West Nile virus (WNV) blood test to screen donors of blood, organs, cells and
tissues.

2006 AABB starts collaborating with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create CDC National
Healthcare Safety Network Hemovigilance Module.

2014 FDA approves first U.S. pathogen inactivation systems for platelets and plasma.

2017 FDA approves first two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies to treat cancer.

2018 FDA grants emergency use authorization (EUA) enabling U.S. military to use freeze-dried plasma to treat
hemorrhage in combat settings.

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