Clinical and quality evaluation of red blood cell units collected via apheresis versus those obtained manually

To evaluate the impact of collection procedure on the in vitro quality of red blood cells (RBC), we studied 30 units of apheresis-prepared RBC (ARBC) and 30 units of manually collected RBC (MRBC). We performed assays on day 1 and day 21 of the study, evaluating red cell mass volume (RCM); rate of hemolysis; pH, and levels of sodium, potassium, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) and glucose. Eight patients with aplastic anemia received RBC transfusions of both components and their post-transfusion hematocrit (HCT) levels were compared. On day 21, we observed a significant drop of sodium and glucose levels in the ARBC group, compared with the MRBC group (P <.05). ARBC group demonstrated higher RCM that provided significantly higher HCT values to our group of anemic patients (P <.05). Hemolysis was significantly lower in the ARBC group, compared with the MRBC group (P <.05). At day 21, both groups had no detectable 2,3-DPG. Specimens from both groups retained ATP in sufficiently healthy amounts. The ARBC group demonstrated higher RCM and lower hemolysis levels compared with the MRBC group.