Practical issues that should be considered when planning the implementation of pathogen reduction technology for...

Area of Science:

• Blood banking and transfusion medicine
• Apheresis technology
• Pathogen reduction technology

Background:

• Pathogen reduction technology (PRT) enhances blood safety by inactivating viruses, bacteria, and parasites.
• Diluting platelet (PLT) concentrates in platelet additive solution (PAS) is necessary for PRT application.
• This dilution presents challenges, including increased PLT target yields, extended donation times, and PLT aggregate formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of programming higher target PLT yields for plateletpheresis donations to offset PRT-related PLT losses.
• To compare the performance of Amicus 3.11 and Trima 5.22 apheresis separators in collecting hyper-concentrated PLTs for PRT.

Main Methods:

• A paired study involving 196 apheresis procedures on 98 donors was conducted using Amicus 3.11 and Trima 5.22 separators.
• The study compared collection efficiency (CE), collection rate (CR), donation time, and the incidence of PLT aggregates.
• Analysis included a subgroup of donors with higher pre-procedure PLT counts.

Main Results:

• The Amicus 3.11 demonstrated superior CE (78.02% vs. 69.63%) and CR (8.3 vs. 7.00), with a shorter donation time (56.92 vs. 62.60 minutes) compared to the Trima 5.22.
• Similar productivity was observed between the devices for donors with higher pre-procedure PLT counts.
• A significantly higher percentage of PLT aggregates was detected with the Trima (8.62%) versus the Amicus (3.88%).

Conclusions:

• Both apheresis separators are suitable for collecting hyper-concentrated PLTs for PRT with PAS dilution, without significantly extending donation times.
• While PLT aggregation can occur, it largely resolves by day 1 post-collection.
• Further research is warranted to determine the clinical implications of post-apheresis PLT aggregation.