Transfusion-related acute lung injury better known as TRALI, has not differences with other kinds of acute respiratory distress, except for its close relation with transfusion. It is considered among the greatest hazards on blood products use. With its peculiar characteristics it mimics within the many factors that may trigger an acute respiratory distress, especially among those patients at high risk for suffering lung damage after transfusion. The main purpose of this review is to make a recall of the existence of TRALI for those physicians who deal with high transfusion-demanding patients or those with conditions which could represent a risk for its development. TRALI´s main epidemiological variables (such as incidence and mortality) show important variations among different investigations. The criteria heterogeneity, even after the consecution of international diagnostic consensus, has made it difficult to take advantage of the data arose from multiple studies about its behavior, promoting the report of not a few contradictory results on worldwide publications. Diagnosing TRALI represents a real challenge for the clinician since it often appears within the context of various possible causes for an acute respiratory distress. This is why TRALI is frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed.
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