Platelet collection with the Amicus and the AS.TEC204 blood cell separators

BACKGROUND: Platelet collection with two new blood cell separators was compared with respect to platelet yield, separation efficiency, white cell (WBC) contamination, and measures of component quality. Both machines offer a menu for the collection of a desired platelet yield. The harvesting of a definite platelet yield is a means of collecting a standardized therapeutic platelet dose. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: One hundred seventy-two platelet collections were carried out with different protocols in the two devices (Amicus and AS.TEC 204). For that reason, healthy donors underwent plateletpheresis procedures using the continuous-and discontinuous-flow systems. Separations with a definite endpoint volume and the option of collecting a desired platelet yield of 5.5 x 10(11) in the Amicus and 3.3 x 10(11) in the AS.TEC 204 machine were investigated. RESULTS: With the Amicus blood cell separator, platelet yield (5.02 m+/- 0.46 x 10(11)) and separation efficiency (66.9 +/- 6.2%) were significantly higher than those with the AS.TEC 204 (3.02 +/- 0.62 x 10(11) and 46.4 +/- 6.7%, respectively). There was less deviation between the platelet yield and the desired platelet yield in the AS.TEC 204 machine than in the Amicus device. WBC contamination was 2.06 +/- 2.91 x 10(6) in components obtained from the AS.TEC 204 machine, and 87.5 percent of the platelet concentrates had a WBC content <5 x 10(6). None of the components from the Amicus device contained more than 5 x 10(6) WBCs. Except for platelet morphology score, measures of component quality were almost equal in the platelet concentrates obtained from the studied machines. CONCLUSION: Platelet yield and separation efficiency were significantly higher in the Amicus blood cell separator. The collection of a desired platelet yield was better achieved with the AS.TEC 204 device.