A nice new book by Zdravko Kvržić covers transfusion history from its beginnings to modern day. Includes a section on history of transfusion in Slovenia. #book #transfusion

Karl Landsteiner – founder of the feast of blood groups – reported the first groups (A, B and O) in 1900, in a brief footnote to a paper on another topic. His more complete report appeared in 1901. He later also discovered the blood group antigens M, N, P, Hu, He and (probably) Rh(D).

Blundell first used animal blood for transfusion, but then switched to human donors, as suggested by his friend John Leacock, for practical reasons. Sheep or calves were of ideal size, but difficult to get upstairs to the patient's bedroom. They were also dirty and seldom housebroken!

James Blundell is credited with reviving the practice of blood transfusion in the 19th century. He probably performed his first human transfusion in 1818, but that and later attempts did not go well. Blundell persisted, performing his first successful transfusion in 1825.