Blood substitutes tied to higher risk of heart attack, death

A government researcher recently announced that experimental blood substitutes are linked to an increase risk of heart attack and death; it has been suggested that studies on people be halted. Before human trials, animal trials even showed evidence that the product causes constriction of blood vessels that could lead to heart attacks.

The senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Charles Natanson, led a team that pooled data from several trials involving 3711 patients and found 164 deaths versus 123 deaths among controls: a more than 30% increase in mortality. The largest difference was in heart attacks; there were 59 heart attacks among treated patients and 16 among controls.

An artificial blood substitute could prove invaluable on the battlefield and in small, rural hospitals where fresh blood supplies can run in short supply. The government researchers realize this fact but are concerned about the products' safety and lack of clinical benefit.

At the moment, the government is urging that all results of trials on experimental agents involving people be made available to doctors and scientists.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/04/28/blood.substitutes/index.html