Question

Why does the blood need to be irradiated for any specific surgery?

Answer 1

Transfusion-Associated Graft-versus-Host Disease (TA-GvHD) is a rare but serious complication of blood transfusion caused by white blood cells i.e. lymphocytes in the transfused blood. TA-GvHD is a very rare but usually fatal complication following transfusion of lymphocyte-containing blood components.

Blood that has been treated with radiation (by x-rays or other forms of radioactivity) to prevent TA-GvHD is called Irradiated blood.