[Thrombophoresis II. Effects of thrombocyte separation on the blood donor (author's transl)].

The separation of approximately 75% of the platelets present in circulation and thrombocyte pool in healthy adult donors by continuous flow centrifugation lowers the mean thrombocyte concentration to 140 +/- 28 X 10(3)/microliter. A dangerous thrombocytopenia can not occur since the platelet count in the reinfused erythrocyte zone remains at around 88 X 10(3)/microliter. The reactive rise of the platelet count after separation, the extend of which depended on the total amount of harvested thrombocytes, reached values around 277 X 10(3)/microliter. The total thrombocyte yield exceeded the calculated yield by 30%, indicating emptying of a quiescent thrombocyte pool. Thrombopoietin activity could be demonstrated in donors' plasma at 12 and 24 hours after thrombophoresis.