Transfusion of platelet concentrates from pooled buffy-coats: comparison of bedside vs. prestorage leukofiltration.
Prestorage leucocyte filtration of platelet concentrates (PC) has been considered to be superior to bedside filtration with regard to the incidence of nonhaemolytic transfusion reactions (NHTR) or HLA-alloimmunization. It is currently a matter of debate whether prestorage leucocyte filtration has an impact on the storability of platelets and on the transfusion results of PC. In a clinical retrospective study we investigated the transfusion results of PC from pooled buffy-coats (PC-BC) in haematological patients without known refractoriness to platelets, and compared bedside filtration (n = 228/36 patients) vs. prestorage filtration (n = 271/25 patients). Leukocyte and platelet content of the PC, duration of storage, platelet count of the patient before transfusion and 20 h after transfusion were determined and platelet increment and corrected count increment (CCI) 20 h after transfusion were calculated. The mean leucocyte content of the bedside filtered PC was 66 +/- 50 x 106 and < 0.1 x 106 for the prestorage filtered PC (P < 0.001). Mean platelet content of the PC (2.6 x 1011 vs. 2.7 x 1011) and the duration of PC storage (2.7 vs. 2.6 days) were almost identical in both groups. The platelet increment after 20 h (14.6 x 109 L-1 vs. 14.9 x 109 L-1) was equal for both groups, but CCI values were significantly higher for the bedside filtered PC (14.1 +/- 9.5 vs. 11.4 +/- 6.8) (P = 0.008). Correlation with the storage time revealed that CCI levels were higher for bedside filtered PC after short-term storage (< 36 h) (P = 0.014), but declined more rapidly compared with prestorage filtered PC. A patient-based analysis including fewer cases revealed superior but nonsignificant results for bedside filtration. In conclusion, bedside filtered PC-BC resulted in better CCI results after short-term storage, but values equalized with prestorage filtered PC-BC after longer storage intervals. Prestorage-leucocyte filtration did not improve platelet recovery in vivo, but CCI values decreased only moderately throughout storage. Both preparations showed excellent transfusion results even after a 5-day storage interval.
Müller-Steinhardt
M
M
Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine; Department of Hematology, University of Lübeck School of Medicine, Germany. muellerst@immu.mu-luebeck.de
Schlenke
P
P
Wagner
T
T
Klüter
H
H
D001793:Blood Preservation / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007937:Leukapheresis / Q000379:methods*; D010976:Platelet Count; D017713:Platelet Transfusion