Autologus blood donation is used to avoid homologous blood transfusion for blood loss during surgery. We report 4 years' experience of the practice with an autologous blood predeposit program in our hospital. All units of autologous blood were collected by the nurse and the doctor of the Department of Transfusion Service in our hospital. We used three methods of storage: 1) CPD (liquid storage) 2) MAP (liquid storage) 3) cryopreservation. Frozen units were stored in a regional blood center. Other units were stored at the Department of Transfusion Service in our hospital. Over a 4-year period, 227 patients deposited one or more units of autologous blood in anticipation of surgery. 143 (63%) patients underwent orthopedic surgery, 43 (19%) cardiac surgery and 41 (18%) other surgery. The operations of 7/227 patients were cancelled. Of 220 patients, 191 (87%) did not require allogeneic blood. Administration of recombinant human erythropoietin is effective for autologous blood donation in patients with anemia and aged patients. Autologous blood transfusion represented 4% of all transfused RBC at our hospital in 1995. Our hospital-based predeposit program is effective in promoting autologous blood transfusion in surgery.

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A modified flow cytometric (FCM) method for counting very small numbers of residual white blood cells (WBCs) in platelet concentrates (PCs) was developed. Non-labeled chicken red blood cells (cRBCs) were added to samples of PCs as an internal control. After incubation with propidium iodide (PI) staining agent, residual WBCs and control cRBCs were counted using a Cytoron flow cytometer (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics K. K. Tokyo, Japan). Average time needed to count one sample was 40 seconds. The range of cell numbers able to counted by this method was 1.6×10²-10⁵ cells per ml with good reproducibility.
The advantages of this technique are that its rapid and accurate, requires only 0.2ml of PCs and is easy to perform. It therefore represents a useful method for quality control of residual WBCs in platelet concentrates.

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