Leukocyte filtration of single-donor platelet units through an integrated filter system for the Fresenius AS 104 blood cell separator.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

White cell depletion of platelet concentrates is widely applied to reduce the incidence of transfusion complications. We investigated a new plateletpheresis kit with an integrated filter for leukocyte depletion of platelets.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Parameters of product quality were investigated before and after in-line filtration of 70 single-donor platelet (SDP) units obtained by apheresis. We studied three different filter batches manufactured for the Fresenius AS 104 blood cell separator, and evaluated different softwares and interface positions with respect to platelet (PLT) yield and white blood cell (WBC) contamination.

RESULTS

PLT yields before and after filtration was not statistically different in the protocols studied. WBC contamination after WBC depletion was in the range of 10(4)/SDP unit. Glucose, lactate dehydrogenase, and the morphology score were not statistically different before and after filtration.

CONCLUSIONS

In-line WBC filtration of SDP units sufficiently reduced WBC below 5 x 10(6)/unit. The study allowed definition of the filter composition and apheresis parameters to optimize PLT yield and minimize WBC contamination.