Cooper J, et al. - The objective of this study was to compare the impact of the freshest available red cells with that of standard-issue (oldest available) red cells, in 5000 high-risk critically ill patients. They hypothesized that administration of the freshest available red cells would result in lower 90-day all-cause mortality than administration of standard-issue red cells. No significant difference was seen in the rate of death among critically ill patients who received the transfusion of the freshest available red cells and those who received standard-issue, oldest available red cells.