A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR PREPARING IMPROVED BUFFY COAT PLATELET CONCENTRATES

We evaluated in vitro platelet function of platelet concentrates store d at 22 C for 5 days prepared either by the conventional pelleting pro cedure or platelet concentrates prepared from buffy coats by utilizing a novel bucket designed to support a suspended bag. For platelet conc entrates from buffy coat, whole blood was centrifuged at 3,000 x g for 13 min, with all but 30cc of the cell poor plasma transferred to a sa tellite bag, followed by a second centrifugation at 170 x g for 5 min utilizing our novel centrifugation device. For pelleted platelets, who le blood was centrifuged at 2,000 x g for 3 min, platelet rich plasma removed, centrifuged, and the pellet resuspended in plasma. Leukocyte contamination in buffy coat platelet concentrates was reduced by 95% ( p<0.001) in comparison to pelleted platelets. Further, platelets from buffy coat platelet concentrates demonstrated significantly enhanced A DP-induced aggregation, increased recovery from hypotonic shock, highe r morphology scores, and reduced CMP-140 expression in comparison to p elleted preparations. No differences in O-2 consumption, CO2 productio n, pH and total ATP were observed between the two types of preparation s at day 5 of storage. Our results indicate that platelet concentrates from buffy coat, prepared by a suspended storage bag centrifugation t echnique, are superior with respect to in vitro platelet function when compared to pelleted platelets.