Comparison of platelet loss during leukocyte reduction at 4, 24, and 48 hours postcollection using a closed system apheresis kit with integral filter

Prestorage leukocyte reduction of platelet concentrates may reduce adverse effects of transfusion while affording better quality control. Platelets and leukocytes may undergo activation during storage, which could affect the performance of leukocyte reduction filters. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of leukocyte reduction and concomitant platelet loss with a new apheresis kit with an integral leukocyte reduction filter. Twelve donors underwent plateletpheresis on three occasions using the CS-3000 PLUS Blood Cell Separator with the Access? Management System and the Access? Closed System Apheresis Kit with Integral Sepacell® Leukocyte Reduction Filter and Double Return Line Needle (Baxter-Fenwal Division, Deerfield, IL). Of the three products from each donor, one each was filtered at 4, 24, and 48 hours completion of the plateletpheresis. Mean prefiltration platelet count was 4.43 × 10¹¹ and mean postfiltration platelet count was 3.56 × 10¹¹. Mean platelet recovery at 4, 24, and 48 hours filtration was 75%, 83%, and 84%, respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that platelet recovery with filtration at four hours was significantly less than with filtration at 24 hours (P = 0.0236) and filtration at 48 hours (P = 0.0122). Platelet recovery with filtration at 24 hour did not differ significantly from filtration at 48 hours (P = 0.7684). Mean prefiltration WBC count was 0.93 × 10⁶ and mean postfiltration WBC count was 0.12 × 10⁶. Efficiency of leukocyte reduction was not significantly related to when filtration was performed. There was no significant variation from donor to donor in platelet recovery or in leukocyte reduction efficiency. This method of prestorage leukocyte reduction demonstrated slightly but statistically significantly better platelet recovery with filtration at 24 or 48 hours after platelet collection compared to four hours. All filtration times provided acceptable platelet yields with very low residual WBC. J. Clin. Apheresis 12:14–17, 1997 © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.