Donor plasmapheresis: a comparative study using four different types of equipment.

From September 1985 to May 1986, 106 healthy volunteers underwent automated plasmapheresis in our Institution (CT-AVIS, PAVIA) using four different types of equipment. The aim of this study was to verify the feasibility of harvesting plasma from a single donor and to ascertain: the acceptability of the procedure to donors; the speed, economy and safety of the different types of equipment; the quality of the plasma. The equipment employed in this study was: PCS (Plasma Collection System-Haemonetics) FILTRA (Dideco) PLASMAPUR (Organon Teknika). AUTOPHERESIS CTM-(Hemascience). All four used a single-needle technique. Procedures were well tolerated by donors; no significant changes were observed in pre- and post-procedure laboratory values.