Apheresis Blood Component Collections

In the United States, 14% of RBC, 12% of plasma, and 91% of platelet products collected in 2015 were collected by apheresis procedures (for granulocyte products, see Chapter 7 ).

Manufacture of blood components by apheresis provides many advantages over whole blood (WB) collection. Apheresis collections are already leukoreduced, available for component therapy without further processing, and product type, volume, dose, and number controlled. Apheresis collection is an effective and efficient method to maximize blood component collection from a single donor by collecting products that are most needed. Using apheresis technologies allows blood centers to collect multiple components during a single donation (both different components and multiple units of the same component) with an added benefit of cost reduction of individual donor testing. Finally, use of a smaller caliber needle may enhance donor comfort.

Disadvantages of apheresis collection include increased expense of kits (which may be offset by overall increase in efficiency), additional phlebotomist training, inability to collect large number of products quickly due to procedure time, and some adverse events not observed in WB collection, i.e., citrate-related reaction and infiltration.

Most regulations and standards are the same for donors undergoing apheresis as WB collection ( Chapter 5 ); however, there are some unique qualifications. Maximum allowable rolling 12-month loss is 1400 mL of RBCs and, based on donor weight, 12,000 mL (for donors weighting ≤175 lb) and 14,400 mL (for donors weighing >175 lb) of plasma.