Effect of “old” versus “fresh” transfused red blood cells on patients’ outcome: probably more complex than appears

The study recently published by Heddle et al. “Effect of Short-Term vs. Long-Term Blood Storage on Mortality after Transfusion” (1) is the last avatar of a series of studies examining whether extended red blood cell (RBC) storage in blood banks is detrimental or not to patients [for a detailed review, refer to: (2)]. The common sense would argue that “the freshest, the best”, but extended storage may be rendered necessary for logistical reasons in blood banks for various reasons.