Effect of adhesive properties of buffy coat on the quality of blood components produced with Top & Top and Top & Bottom bags

BackgroundThe Transfusion Medicine Unit of Reggio Emilia currently collects whole blood using conventional quadruple Fresenius Top & Top bags. In this study, new Fresenius Top & Bottom bags were assessed and compared to the routine method with regards to product quality and operational requirements.ResultsCompared to the traditional system, the whole blood units processed with Top & Bottom bags yielded larger plasma volumes (+5.7%) and a similar amount of concentrated red blood cells, but with a much lower contamination of lymphocytes (−61.5%) and platelets (−86.6%). Consequently, the pooled platelets contained less plasma (−26.3%) and were significantly richer in platelets (+17.9%).DiscussionThis study investigated the effect of centrifugation on the adhesiveness of the buffy coat to the bag used for whole blood collection. We analysed the mechanism by which this undesirable phenomenon affects the quality of packed red blood cells in two types of bags. We also documented the incomparability of measurements on platelet concentrates performed with different principles of cell counting: this vexing problem has important implications for biomedical research and for the establishment of universal product standards. Our results support the conclusion that the Top & Bottom bags produce components of higher quality than our usual system, while having equal operational efficiency. Use of the new bags could result in an important quality improvement in blood components manufacturing.