Comparative evaluation of procedures with a Baxter CS-3000 cell separator for collecting peripheral blood cells from children

The safety and efficacy of apheresis using a newly developed procedure with a small volume separation container holder (SVSCH, Baxter) for the collect ion of PBSC from children with cancer were retrospectively compared with ou r historical experience with other procedures using different equipment and the CS-3000(R) plus cell separator. The procedures' tested included the ap plication of (a) specialized collection protocol 4 using the combination of an SVSCH and a small volume collection chamber (SVCC) (group A: 6 collecti ons in 4 patients), (b) standard lymphocyte collection protocol 3 with GRAN ULO separation (G) and A-35 collection chambers (group B: 9 collections in 5 patients), and (c) modified collection procedure 1-120 with G and SVCC (g roup C: 7 collections in 3 patients). Although the retrospective nature of this study and the differences in the cohorts tested prevent a reliable ana lysis, the percent decrease in the peripheral platelet count after collecti on tended to be minimum in group A (11% +/- 5% versus 23% +/- 4% [B] or 17% +/- 4% [C]). Moreover, the largest number of CD34(+) cells was collected i n group A (8.7 +/- 9.4 x 10(5)/100 ml processed blood) compared with groups B (5.5 +/- 7.5 x 10(5)/100 ml processed blood) and C (4.0 +/- 2.8 x 10(5)/ 100 ml processed blood). These data suggest that a procedure incorporating SVSCH can be safely and effectively applied to small children and enables t he selective collection of PBSC with less contamination by platelets, which is useful for subsequent cell processing.