Cryopreservation of Platelets: Advances and Current Practice

Abstract

Conventional fresh platelets stored at 20–24°C have a short shelf life, at most 7 days. Their main disadvantage is logistics as it is more difficult. This limitation is especially problem atic for emergency and intensive care departments for managing massive bleeding. The early and aggressive use of blood products for massive hemorrhage may correct coagu -lopathy, control bleeding, and improve outcomes. The timely availability of platelets at the shortest time after the injury is often problematic. Many hospitals cannot afford to have platelets permanently in stock because of its short shelf life. Cryopreservation and storage of frozen platelets may significantly prolong their shelf life. Thus, frozen platelets provide long-term accessibility in situations where fresh products are not available. The most widely used method for the platelets cryopreservation is freezing at 5–6% DMSO at −80°C. The production of cryopreserved platelets is not technologically demanding, they can be easily thawed and reconstituted. Frozen platelets are an alternative blood product for urgent orders in connection with heavy bleeding. They are cost-effective functional platelets product for the management of bleeding and should be considered for wider use in clinical practice, such as autologous platelets, rare or HLA/HPA compatible plate - lets and platelets for non-transfusion use.