Supra-plasma expanders: the future of treating blood loss and anemia without red cell transfusions?

Oxygen delivery capacity during profoundly anemic conditions depends on blood's oxygen-carrying capacity and cardiac output. Oxygen-carrying blood substitutes and blood transfusion augment oxygen-carrying capacity, but both have given rise to safety concerns, and their efficacy remains unresolved. Anemia decreases oxygen-carrying capacity and blood viscosity. Present studies show that correcting the decrease of blood viscosity by increasing plasma viscosity with newly developed plasma expanders significantly improves tissue perfusion. These new plasma expanders promote tissue perfusion, increasing oxygen delivery capacity without increasing blood oxygen-carrying capacity, thus treating the effects of anemia while avoiding the transfusion of blood.