Transfusion of platelet concentrates--clinical evaluation of two preparations.

The aim of this study was to compare the clinical effect of transfusion of platelet concentrates (PC) prepared from pooled buffy coats (BC) and PCs collected from a single donor (SD) by an apheresis technique. The influence of storage time and various clinical conditions was also studied. Thirty-two patients suffering from haematological malignancies were given a total of 326 platelet concentrates; 180 BC-PCs and 146 SD-PCs, median 7 transfusions per patient. BC-PCs contained 312 +/- 52 x 10(9) and SD-PCs 383 +/- 133 x 10(9) platelets/unit (mean +/- SD). The mean storage time of BC-PC was 3 d and that of SD-PC 1 d. The mean platelet count of the patients before transfusion was 11 +/- 8 x 10(9)/L. Regression analysis showed a significant decrease of the post-transfusion platelet corrected count increment (CCI) during storage of PCs for 1-5 d (BC-PC: p < 0.01; SD-PC: p < 0.05). There was no difference in platelet increment between BC-PC and SD-PC. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alloimmunization was the major cause of clinical refractoriness to random donor platelet transfusions but splenomegaly also caused low CCI values.