title: In vitro evaluation of the effects of transportation and storage on platelet concentrates.
abstract: Platelets may be activated and become acidic during transportation and storage, resulting in poor post-transfusion platelet survival and recovery. In this study, we evaluated the current local shipment protocol for platelet concentrates and the storage technique used at the National Taiwan University Hospital. Platelet concentrates were transported routinely in cardboard boxes at ambient temperature. They were then stored in an agitator at 20 degrees C to 24 degrees C in the blood bank. We measured changes in beta-thromboglobulin, pH, platelet distribution width (PDW) and platelet counts before and after shipment and storage. The level of beta-thromboglobulin reflects platelet activation and was determined by enzyme immunoassay. The beta-thromboglobulin levels and platelet counts were not significantly different after transportation and during the storage period but there were significant changes in pH and PDW after storage (p < 0.001). Regression study showed that the prestorage platelet counts and pH were strongly associated with the pH at the end of storage (r = -0.71, r = 0.75 respectively). We concluded that the current shipment technique has no adverse effect on the in vitro characteristics of platelets, and the prestorage pH and platelet count could be used as predictors for the pH at end of storage. The data indicate that it is important to measure the prestorage pH and platelet count to set up an optimal storage strategy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology*; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010976:Platelet Count; D014186:Transportation