Collection of platelets depleted of red and white cells with the “surge pump” adaptation of a blood cell separator

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Abstract
The surge pump is a device which modifies platelet collection of a blood cell separator so that red and white blood cell contamination in minimized. Plasma collected from the donor is directed back into the centrifuge bowl at 200 ml/min, where it causes platelets to be floated off the red cell-plasma interface and thus is collected as an almost pure platelet preparation. Fifty plateletapheresis procedures with the surge pump adaptation were compared to 50 procedures using the standard red cell method. Mean (.+-. SD) white cell (> 95% lymphocytes) contamination was 5.4 .+-. 3.1 .times. 108 cells/collection with the surge pump and 63.5 .+-. 10 .times. 108 cells/collection with the standard red cell method (P < 0.0001). Mean collection hematocrit was 8.1 .+-. 2.6% with the standard method and < 1% with the surge pump eliminating the need for crossmatch or centrifugation to remove red cells from ABO incompatible platelets. Surge pump collection produced a mean of 4.0 .+-. 1.6 .times. 1011 platelets compared to 5.0 .+-. 2.0 .times. 1011 platelets for the standard method (P < 0.01). The mean time/run was 14.8 .+-. 2.4 min with the surge pump compared with 18.1 .+-. 3.3 min with the standard method (P < 0.001). Therefore, the platelet yield per minute of procedure time was comparable with both methods (surge pump, 37.3 .+-. 11.7 .times. 108 platelets per min; standard method, 39.2 .+-. 14.3 .times. 108 platelets/min). Surge pump operation was learned easily by technologists and caused no donor complications. The surge pump is a simple and effective way of minimizing white and red blood cell contamination in platelet collections from the blood cell separator studied without compromising platelet yields.