title: Quality and stability of red cells derived from gravity-separated placental blood with a hollow-fiber system.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several studies show that donor red blood cells (RBCs) can be processed by gravity separation with a hollow-fiber filtration system. This study investigated whether fetal blood could be filtered in the same way.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve newborns born after healthy pregnancies were included in the study. Placental blood was sampled with standard procedures. The sampled blood was separated with a specially designed hollow-fiber filtration system (Sangofer neonatal, Heim Group). The RBC bag contained 10 mL of saline, adenine, glucose-mannitol (SAG-M) for stabilization. After processing, the resulting RBC volume was estimated. Quality variables (blood counts, hemolysis rate) were measured before and after 35 days of storage at +4 degrees C.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 12 processed RBC units had a mean volume of 62.3 +/- 13.5 mL and a mean hematocrit level of 0.56 +/- 0.06. No white blood cell contamination could be detected in any of the RBC units tested. After 35 days of storage, the hemolysis was 0.1 +/- 0.07 and the amount of free hemoglobin was 0.28 +/- 0.017 mmol per L.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that it is possible to process placental blood to RBCs by gravity separation with a hollow-fiber system. The quality of the RBCs thus processed was suitable for 35 days storage. The use of placental blood in the treatment of children with anemia (e.g., malaria) in the underresourced world is widely discussed. Because the separation device used here needs no additional equipment or electrical devices, it is considered to be an ideal method for use in these countries.
authors: University Children's Hospital, Magdeburg, Germany. thomas.brune@med.orgu.de
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Brune
authors: Sara
authors: S
authors: Fill
authors: Gerd
authors: G
authors: Heim
authors: Angelika
authors: A
authors: Rabsilber
authors: Kathrin
authors: K
authors: Wohlfarth
authors: Henk S P
authors: HS
authors: Garritsen
mesh_terms: D001793:Blood Preservation / Q000379:methods; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D047589:Leukocyte Reduction Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins