A new blood donation strategy: Automated blood collection (ABC)

Background: The aim of this study was to find out if Cobe Trima, a blood ce ll separator that automatically collects RBC, PLT and plasma, is adequate f or routine multiple blood donation by apheresis. Materials and Methods. Eighty donors underwent multiple blood component don ations by Cobe Trima. Blood counts were determined on the apheresis product s to analyze their quality. Results. Eighty procedures were performed collecting 193 products. The aver age platelet yield was 3.5x10(11) (+/- 0.46) in the 54 single product (SP) procedures and 7x10(11) (+/- 0.88) in the 26 double product (DP) procedures . WBC contamination of the PLT products was 1.7 x 10(5) (1.2-4.2). The mean platelet efficiency was 60 +/- 8.35% for SP and 66 +/- 9.59% for DP. The h emoglobin (Hb) content per unit was 46.21 g (+/- 7.84) in 8 DP and 40.82 g (+/- 6.41) in 34 SP procedures. Conclusion. The production of standardized blood components with good PLT y ield and low WBC contamination plus high efficiency makes Trima one of the best blood cell separators of the new generation.