Brain hemorrhage could also be transmitted through blood transfusions, a latest study suggests.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a reason for spontaneous hemorrhage, might be transmitted through donated blood, researchers said in a study, published in Jama Network. Nonetheless, it is extremely unlikely that individuals would suffer a brain hemorrhage as a direct results of receiving donated blood.

CAA, a variety of cerebrovascular disorder that causes the piling up of proteins within the small blood vessels throughout the brain, is the common reason for many recurring and spontaneous brain hemorrhages.

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage is a blood clot that develops within the absence of trauma or surgery.

Previous studies suggest that CAA will be transmitted through procedures like neurosurgery and growth hormone treatment.

In the newest study, researchers looked into data from greater than 1,000,000 patients from a Swedish-Danish transfusion database, which holds records of blood donors and patients who had blood transfusions because the Seventies.

“On this exploratory retrospective cohort study, which included 759,858 patients in Sweden and 329,512 patients in Denmark, receiving red blood cell transfusions from donors who later developed multiple spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages was significantly related to an increased risk of developing spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage compared with receiving a transfusion from donors without subsequent intracerebral hemorrhage,” the researchers wrote.

The study showed that only 0.1% of the donors subsequently suffered recurring brain hemorrhages.

“Blood transfusions are relatively common, which makes possible negative effects a very important public health issue. Nonetheless, on this case, it’s most unlikely that you just’d suffer a brain hemorrhage from something transmitted through a transfusion,” the study’s last writer Gustaf Edgren said in a news release.

The researchers also found that patients who suffered recurring brain hemorrhages after receiving blood from donors who had brain hemorrhages were greater than twice as prone to suffer brain bleeding themselves.

To further confirm the findings and to discover aberrant proteins related to CAA, the research team plans to judge the samples from the Danish Blood Donor Study biobank.

“This study doesn’t exhibit causality, so the observed increase in risk could rely on other aspects. More research is required to verify our findings and understand the potential underlying mechanism,” said Jingcheng Zhao, the primary writer of the study.

Researchers hope the study adds to the evidence that CAA will be transmitted between individuals, a finding that has consequences in several fields.

Published by Medicaldaily.com