Filtered blood called key to shorter hospital stays

If more physicians soon follow a recent Food and Drug Administration recommendation, lengths of stays in hospitals could be reduced by a day or more, area medical professionals say.

The miracle cure isn't much of a miracle at all. It simply involves filtering blood supplies to remove white cells called leukocytes. Currently filtered blood is normally only given to critically ill patients whose immune systems are weak. But for years, pathologists have also known that filtered blood can be better for every patient.

The FDA recommended last month that physicians and hospitals use filtered blood all the time.

"It (unfiltered) blood won't harm anyone," said Michael Lanata, a medical technologist with United Blood Services in Las Vegas and a member of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. "But a person may be more susceptible to other diseases. The white cells breakup and release a chemical that sometimes creates an immune system response (such as a fever)."

Traditionally filtered blood is only ordered by a physician, Lanata said. He feels as more doctors become aware of the benefits of filtered blood, they will continue to request it.

In 1996, Lanata said 80 filtered units a month were ordered throughout Clark County. As of January, the last time he calculated requests, that number had skyrocketed to between 300 and 500 units a month.

"Not everyone develops a fever because of the white cells," said Dr. Carol Vanderharten, a pathologist at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. "But filtered blood is a superior product. It will reduce hospital stays."

The downside to filtered blood is the cost. Lanata said United Blood Services sells blood to local hospitals for $82 a pint. Filtered blood costs an additional $40 a unit.

"The better the technology gets in filtering, the more we will go toward 100 percent filtering," Lanata said.

He added he expects costs to go down as this begins to happen.

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