Donor symptomatology and safety in blood cell separation procedures

Increasing demands for platelet and granulocyte concentrates collected by cell separation technology for replacement strategies requires expanding available donor pools, related or unrelated by recruiting additional donors or increasing the frequency with which a donor is processed. The expanding application of cell separation devices for plasma or red cell exchange as a therapeutic modality for many medical diagnoses now exposes patients with altered physiology to technology and procedures originally designed for healthy blood component donors. Some possible risks from the technology and/or procedure are discussed. Donor symptomatology from the chemical agents used in blood processing and a relationship to scheduling frequency are introduced.