Fuji surge technique and continuous in-line filtration to improve the quality of single donor platelet concentrates.

White blood cell (WBC)-reduced single donor platelet concentrates (SDPs) can be collected by most cell separators. WBC reduction can be achieved directly during plateletpheresis or by filtration. Continuous filtration with low filtration rates provides SDPs of good purity. To compensate the platelet (PLT) loss due to filtration, the PLT yield in the unfiltered primary product should be optimal. Fifty donors underwent plateletpheresis with the MCS+ blood cell separator (Haemonetics) with the new Fuji surge technique and continuous WBC filtration. Twelve SDPs were analysed for PLT yield, red blood cells (RBC), WBC, and pH after collection (Day 0) and at the end of storage (Day 5). Thereafter, further 38 SDPs were measured for PLT and WBC content in routine production at Day 0. PLT were determined electronically, RBC and WBC were counted manually (Neubauer and Nageotte chamber, respectively). For pH measurement, a pH-meter was used. Mean blood volume processed was 2621 +/- 112 ml in a donation time of 76 +/- 10 min. An average PLT yield of 3.45 +/- 0.88 x 10(11) was collected in a product volume of 325 +/- 77 ml. The collection efficiency was 60.0 +/- 5.5%. WBC contamination of all units tested was 0.046 +/- 0.059 x 10(6) and the RBC content of the SDPs analysed at Day 0 was 0.014 +/- 0.003 x 10(9). The pH was well maintained over the storage period of 5 days. The data indicate that Fuji surge technique and continuous in-line leukocyte filtration allow for the collection of SDPs with high platelet yield and low leukocyte contamination, meeting the Council of Europe quality standards.