Figure 1

Probability of Red Blood Cell Transfusion as a Function of Admission Hemoglobin and Severity of Illness. A) The left panel shows that the likelihood of transfusion is tightly linked to the degree of anemia and that it falls exponentially in the first 24 hours, after which the rate of decrease is linear. B) The right panel shows that trends in severity of illness, within varying strata of admission hemoglobin, do not explain differences in overall rates of RBC transfusion. Severity of Illness refers to ranges of Laboratory Acute Physiology Score, version 2 (LAPS2) a physiology-based score which includes vital signs, neurological status, and laboratory results [19]. Increasing degrees of physiologic derangement are reflected in a higher LAPS2. Ranges of Severity of Illness (LAPS2) were defined as: Low (0-75), Moderate (75-125), and High (>125), associated with 30-day mortality rates of 2%, 9%, and 30%, respectively.