Effects of leucocyte depletion on rheologic properties of human CPDA-1 blood

Background and Objectives: Leucocyte depletion imp roves the quality of sto red blood units. We have studied its role on blood viscosity, Materials and Methods: Viscosity of CPDA-1 blood units was measured in a Couette viscome ter at shear rates of 94.5 and 0.1 s-1 prior to and following filtration wi th the Leukotrap(R) A1 system on day 0 and after 21 days at +4 degreesC. Re sults: On day 0, high but not low shear viscosity was significantly decreas ed. The red blood cell morphology was unaffected. On day 21, blood viscosit y was increased similarly for unfiltered and filtered samples at both shear rates, The echinocytosis observed after storage correlated with the increa se in viscosity, Conclusion: Leucocyte depletion is associated with a decre ase in high shear viscosity, This effect is, however, completely lost after 21 days, Copyright (C) 2000 S.Karger AG,Basel.