Plateletpheresis-induced increase in platelet reactivity using different cell separators.

Objective: Since plateletpheresis is being used increasingly, it is important to regard quality control to check health risks for donors and to exclude these.

Design: Controlled randomised prospective open comparative study.

Setting: Department of Transfusion Medicine of a University Clinic.

Participants: 112 platelet donors were examined.

Interventions: Prior to and after plateletpheresis platelet reactivity was determined. The platelet concentrates in the two groups of 56 donors each were produced using either the cell separator 'CS-3000' and the collecting chamber PLT 30TM with the Omnix system (group I) or the cell separator 'AS-104' (group II).

Results: In group I five donors showed a pathologically increased platelet reactivity (p = 0.1297) after plateletpheresis. In group II there were 10 donors with a pathologically increased platelet reactivity (p = 0.0046) after plateletpheresis. The mean concentration of platelets was reduced by separation using the CS-3000 Omnix from 238 +/- 49 x 10(3)/microliters to 172 +/- 32 x 10(3)/microliters (68 +/- 27 x 10(3)/microliters) and from 243 +/- 53 x 10(3)/microliters to 180 +/- 31 x 10(3)/microliters (63 +/- 33 x 10(3)/microliters) using the AS-104. In the first case the platelet yield was 3.9 x 10(11) platelets/concentrate, in the latter case it was 2.9 x 10(11) platelets/concentrate. The 'CS-3000 Omnix' is significantly more effective in separating (58.4 +/- 15.5%) than the 'AS-104' with 44.2 +/- 7.2% (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Since both donor groups were comparable regarding all factors recorded--especially the cardiovascular risk factors--the separation process could be responsible for the different traumatisation of platelets.