Platelet Yield and Some Donor-Related Predictors in a Single Donor Apheresis: Report from a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Single-donor platelet transfusion is the preferred therapeutic option for patients with platelet insufficiency and its effectiveness is partly dependent on the yield.

AIM: To determine the platelet yield and predictors of platelet yield in single-donor apheresis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a five-year review of the data on single-donor apheresis using the Haemonetics Apheresis machine MCS+ at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki Ebonyi state. Platelet donor related variable of interest included the pre-donation platelet count, donor's blood group, number of apheresis cycles and yield volume. Analysis was done using Graphpad Prism version 9.1.1.

RESULTS: A total of 153 platelet apheresis were studied. The mean (SD) values for pre-donation platelet count, number of cycles, platelet yield and volume of platelet concentrate were 279 ± 47 x 109/L, 6 ± 0.3, 4.5± 0.8 X 10 11/L, and 320 ± 78 mL respectively. In this study, volume of platelet concentrate predicted 61% of platelet yield while platelet count of donor predicted 41%. Neither ABO nor Rh blood groups was a determinant of platelet yield.

CONCLUSION: Pre-donation platelet count and volume of platelet concentrate are important predictors of platelet yield. There is need for proper platelet donor selection.