The Canadian Red Cross plasmapheresis donor safety program: changes in plasma proteins after long-term plasmapheresis

The Canadian Red Cross Blood Services have been harvesting plasma from whole blood by plasmapheresis procedure for the last 10 years. To date, we have performed approximately 230,000 procedures. To determine whether this procedure is a health hazard to an individual, a donor safety program was established in 1979 at the National Reference Laboratory. Serum levels of total protein, albumin, and immunoglobulins are monitored at intervals set by the Bureau of Biologics, Health and Welfare Canada. In this communication, we present a 10-year evaluation of this program. A comparison of the protein concentration distributions between first-time and long-term plasmapheresis donors showed no significant differences. Therefore, we have demonstrated that the donors are not at risk as the result of changes in the measured plasma protein levels following plasmapheresis procedure as performed over the last 10 years at The Canadian Red Cross Blood Services.