The Use of Fresh-Frozen Plasma

To the Editor.— The Jan 25, 1985, issue of JAMA contained two articles and an editorial referring to indications for use of fresh-frozen plasma (FFP). 1-3 In discussing these articles recently with a physician preparing guidelines for use of blood components in military casualties it was evident that there can be misinterpretation of the recommendation made at the beginning of the CONSENSUS CONFERENCE report entitled Fresh-Frozen Plasma: Indications and Risks. The report states that Other single-donor plasma units, either frozen or liquid, may be substituted for FFP. Indications for these products are interchangeable with those for FFP except for coagulation factor V deficiency. 1 Liquid plasma loses not only factor V but, to an even greater extent, factor VIII. As Dr Oberman 3 points out in his editorial, three pages later, liquid single-donor plasma may be prepared from FFP after cryoprecipitate is removed and such single-donor plasma units will be