Donor Platelet Response and Product Quality Assurance in Plateletpheresis

Retrospective analysis of 352 donors who underwent plateletpheresis at least four times, each using the Haemonetics Model 30 Blood Processor, indicated that a postpheresis platelet count of less than 100,000/microliter occurred in only 2.7 per cent of phereses. Restricting pheresis to those with a prepheresis platelet count of greater than 150,000/microliter would have lowered this to 1.3 per cent and eliminated only 3.7 per cent of donations. The donors' platelet counts returned to baseline approximately four days and rebounded above baseline eight to eleven days after pheresis. To minimize the chance of a donor having a postpheresis platelet count less than 100,000/microliter, the prepheresis platelet count should be greater than 150,000/microliter. A platelet count greater than 150,000/microliter immediately following the previous pheresis can be used instead of the prepheresis platelet count. The yield was related to the prepheresis platelet count, number of cycles, sex, type of procedure (platelet or platelet-leukapheresis), and the yield recorded during an individual's previous procedures. Seventy-five per cent of plateletpheresis products contained more than 3.3 x 10(11) platelets. This might be a satisfactory standard for quality assurance.