Removal of Leucocytes from Whole Blood and Erythrocyte Suspensions By Filtration Through Cotton Wool

Abstract. (1) Blood was stored in polyvinyl-chloride bags containing citrate-phosphate-dextrose (CPD) with adenine in a final concentration of 0.25 mM. (2) Red cell ATP was well maintained (>70% of original) for 4 weeks in whole blood as well as in red cell concentrate (PCV 85 ± 2%). After 5 weeks the ATP level was about 70% in whole blood and about 40% in red cell concentrate. (3) Red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG) was about 60% of the original after 2 weeks and about 30% after 3 weeks of storage when stored both as whole blood and as red cell concentrate. (4) The red cell 24-hour post-transfusion viability was about 80% after 4 weeks of storage both as whole blood and as red cell concentrate. After 5 weeks of storage the 24-hour viability was 78.7 ± 3.5% in whole blood and 76.5 ± 6.7% in red cell concentrate. (5) 820 patients received 3,238 units of CPD-adenine blood, and 761 patients serving as controls received 2,807 units of acid-citrate-dextrose (ACD) blood. The frequency of transfusion reactions was 3.5% for patients receiving CPD-adenine blood and 4.1% for the control group. (6) The maximum storage time was set at 5 weeks for the CPD-adenine blood and 3 weeks for the ACD blood. The longer preservation time decreased out-dating by at least 50%.