Question

TRALI (transfusion-related acute lung injury) occurs within how many hours of transfusion?

• A. 48 hours
• B. 72 hours
• C. 6 hours
• D. 12 hours

Hint:

Acute lung injury defined by onset within a short single-digit window after transfusion.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: TRALI is one of the leading causes of transfusion-related death and is essentially an acute lung injury triggered by donor antibodies. Step 2: Its consensus diagnostic criterion requires symptoms to start during the transfusion or within a $6$-hour window afterwards. Step 3: The patient develops sudden breathlessness, low oxygen, fever and bilateral fluffy infiltrates that look like ARDS but without raised filling pressures, separating it from circulatory overload (TACO). Step 4: Therefore the time frames of 12, 48 and 72 hours are too long, and the defining limit is 6 hours.\[\boxed{\text{6 hours}}\]