Introduction: Referring to current standards the quality of an apheresis procedure is estimated by the quantity of collected cells. Nowadays a new kind of quality measurement could be found in the detection of cell volumina. Recent diagnostics have shown that stem cells and platelets - when separated - are likely to appear in a higher volume inside the cell product. Therefore, in this study the question should be discussed wether platelets of higher volume are more likely to be separated than platelets showing a lesser volume.
Methods: Blood samples of three different apheresis procedures could be observed: allogenic platelet donations (n = 7) (Trima, Terumo), autologous (n = 5) and allogenic stem cell donations (n = 5) (Cobe Spectra, Terumo). To examine the blood samples the Sysmex hematology analyser (XT-2000) has been used.
Results: During stem cell apheresis, the volume of the separated platelets was 1.2 fold increased compared to the platelet volume in the peripheral blood before separation. Before apheresis the mean platelet volume in the peripheral blood was found to be 6,21 fl, after apheresis 6,09 fl and inside the platelet concentrate 7,42 fl. The platelet number in the peripheral blood was also significantly decreased (before separation 180.1/nl and after separation 133.5/nl). In the blood products the concentration of platelets was nearly 8 fold higher than in the peripheral blood before separation.
Conclusion: Overall, the observed apheresis procedures are more likely to separate platelets showing a higher voulme than common in the peripheral blood. This might indicate that not only the amount of separated cells reflects the quality of the apheresis procedure but also that the volume of the separated cells can be used as a parameter for quality assessment.
Keywords: Platelet volume; apheresis procedure; quality assessment; stem cells; thrombocytes.