Three apheresis systems (COBE Sprectra, Fenwal CS-3000 plus and Haemonetics MCS) were compared with regard to white cell (WBC) content (n=9 each) in the apheresis chamber on plateletpheresis of 10 units (range, 2-3×1011). Average WBC content in the residual blood in Sprectra, CS-3000 plus and MCS was 6.65×108 (70% of lymphocytes), 3.98×108 (77% of lymphocytes) and 2.21×108 (41% of lymphocytes) WBCs, respectively.
Apheresis donors experiencing 12 plateletpheresis procedures per year, the maximum allowed, will sustain a 56.4×108 lymphocyte loss when Spectra, designoed to collect WBC-poor platelet concentrates, is used.
The annual loss of lymphocytes in males and females would be 2.5 and 3.7 times, that by whole blood donation. Recently developed respectively, cell separators have been improved to decrease WBC contamination. However, close attention should be paid to WBC content in residual blood in the apheresis chamber.
