Contribution of donor- and recipient-associated factors to allergic transfusion reactions to platelets

Pediatric hematology-oncology patients require frequent platelet transfusions to manage chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia, and allergic transfusion reactions (ATRs) are common. Risk for platelet-associated ATRs can result from recipient- or donor-specific factors.

We report a rare case in which an individual platelet donor caused repeated ATRs in multiple recipients. This observation led us to conduct a retrospective study at a pediatric hematology-oncology center to identify donor- and recipient-associated risk factors for ATRs.

Single-donor platelets from an individual donor precipitated ATRs in 78.6% (n = 11/14) of recipients and 66.7% (n = 12/18) of platelet transfusions. We found in a cohort of pediatric hematology-oncology patients that 12.6% of recipients and 1.0% of platelet transfusions were associated with ATRs. Recipients who were aged 4 to 18 years, male, and those with central nervous system or solid tumors and with a history of ATRs to platelets were more likely to experience ATRs. Donor-associated risk factors were not identified, and we did not implicate additional donors in our single-center cohort with a frequency of ATRs comparable to the index donor. Based on our findings, we developed a novel statistical model to identify recipients and donors prone to experiencing or mediating ATRs.

Both donors and recipients contribute to ATRs. Identification of high-risk donors and recipients for further scrutiny and potential interventions can improve the safety of platelet transfusions.