Modification of the Dialysate Port of Plasma Separators for Safe Blood Purification in Japan

A fatal mix-up of a hemofilter with a plasma separator occurred in 2011. The close resemblance between the two blood purification columns commonly used in Japan posed a fundamental risk for such mix-ups. Both the in-hospital case investigation committee and the relevant academic societies have independently proposed the modifications of the dialysate port (D port) of the plasma separator to avoid this type of misuse. To make these devices foolproof, medical professionals, including physicians and clinical engineers, and members of the Medical Technology Association of Japan discussed measures to prevent this type of recurrence. Since new standards were soon to be issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the modifications were temporarily postponed. In September 2016, the ISO released new standards for small-bore connectors. The shape changes of the D port from the current slip-in type (ISO8637) to the Luer lock type (ISO80369-7) had been already approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan by the end of November 2018, including a temporal use of a converter to connect the current type of D port to the new type of blood circuit. We must address the next issue that the new standard and the older standard coexist in the clinical setting, which may create a new risk.