Quality assessment of platelet concentrates prepared by platelet-rich plasma, buffy-coat, and apheresis methods in a tertiary care hospital in South India: A cross-sectional study

Esha Toora; Rajendra G Kulkarni; Prabhu Manivannan; Apurba Sankar Sastry; Abhishekh Basavarajegowda; Dibyajyoti Sahoo

doi:10.4103/ajts.ajts_73_22

Quality assessment of platelet concentrates prepared by platelet-rich plasma, buffy-coat, and apheresis methods in a tertiary care hospital in South India: A cross-sectional study

Asian J Transfus Sci. 2023 Jul-Dec;17(2):239-245. doi: 10.4103/ajts.ajts_73_22. Epub 2022 Dec 12.

Authors

Esha Toora¹, Rajendra G Kulkarni¹, Prabhu Manivannan¹, Apurba Sankar Sastry¹, Abhishekh Basavarajegowda¹, Dibyajyoti Sahoo¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Transfusion Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.

Abstract

Introduction: In blood banking and transfusion medicine, it is of paramount importance to improve transfusion safety and provide a higher quality of product to maximize the therapeutic outcomes and minimize the risk of developing transfusion-associated complications for patients receiving a blood transfusion.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the department of transfusion medicine in a tertiary care hospital of South India from February 2019 to December 2020. The primary objective of the study was to assess the quality of platelet concentrates (PC) prepared by platelet-rich plasma (PRP), buffy-coat (BC), and apheresis method. A total of 760 PCs were subjected to quality assessment, among which 124 were PRP-PC, 176 were BC-PC, and 460 were single donor platelet (SDP).

Results: The total percentage of platelets meeting all the six quality control parameters in PRP, BC and SDP was 78.23%, 81.81%, and 89.96%, respectively. Apheresis PCs showed a significantly higher platelet concentration per µL on comparison with whole-blood-derived platelets. BC-PCs were found to be better than PRP-PC with regard to lower white blood cell (WBC) contamination (P < 0.05) and red blood cell (RBC) contamination (P < 0.01). No statistically significant difference was found with regard to platelet yield, volume, swirling, and pH.

Conclusion: Ex vivo quality of PCs prepared by BC-PC, PRP-PC, and apheresis-PC fulfilled the desired quality control parameters. BC-PC was better than PRP-PC in terms of lesser WBC and RBC contamination and comparable in terms of volume, platelet yield, swirling, and pH. Apheresis PCs showed a higher platelet concentration per microliter on comparison with whole-blood-derived platelets; hence in a blood center where facilities for collection of apheresis product are available, SDPs should be the choice of platelet transfusion.

Keywords: Apheresis platelet; buffy-coat platelet; platelet-rich plasma platelet; quality; single donor platelet.