Dr. Toy concluded the meeting by summarizing the major controversial issues highlighted by the speakers. PABD PABD is, in principle, a safe and effective method for avoiding exposure to allogeneic blood in appropriate circumstances, and a substantial amount of clinical literature has been published to support its role. However, additional research is needed in the following areas: The optimal number of units that should be collected for specific surgical procedures to ensure maximum savings in use of allogenic blood and minimum wastage; The safety of PABD in patients, including a better understanding of which patients are at risk for complications, what the risks are, and what alternative collection strategies should be employed. Adequate control groups are needed in these studies; A definition of the transfusion trigger as it applies to autologous RBCs; An investigation of the role of rEPO in facilitating PABDs; The development of better collection logistics (e.g., double-unit collections) and storage protocols (e.g., improved additive solutions); and Additional studies of the costs associated with autologous blood collection and development of more cost-effective strategies. Acute normovolemic hemodilution Much of the published literature related to hemodilution describes the concept and specific protocols; in contrast, relatively little clinical research relating to the efficacy of this technique exists.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)