Should all adult patients with diarrhoea-associated HUS receive plasma exchange?

摘要

In August, 1939, with Britain on the verge of war and anticipating air raids that might create a large number of civilian casualties, the Dean of StThomas's Hospital Medical School assigned some of his younger staff to the South London Blood Supply Depot in Sutton, an outer suburb of the city. Although his choices were made at random, one in particular—Patrick Mollison, then aged 25 years—turned out to be propitious. Their initial task—collecting blood from donors to build up stocks—was hardly exciting. But overseen by the Medical Research Council (MRC) the depot began a modest research programme. Mollison was among the staff involved, and his work marked the start of a lifetime preoccupation with blood transfusion.