Clinical evaluation of platelet concentrates stored for one to five days

There are no large-scale data available describing the increments obtained with platelet concentrates stored for varying durations. Platelet concentrates prepared by standard techniques were stored at 22°C with horizontal agitation in PL-732 bags and administered to clinically stable, nonalloimmunized recipients known to respond well to random donor platelet transfusions. The platelet concentrates were stored in a mean volume of 65.0 mL (range 54-80 mL) with an average yield of .72 x 10¹¹ platelets per unit of platelet concentrates (N = 100 consecutive units). There was no significant deterioration of pH during storage. Mean corrected count increments ranged between 16,600 (N = 146 transfusions) after 1 day of storage to 13,300 (N = 34 transfusions) after 5 days of storage. Although these differences were statistically significant (P<.003, analysis of variance), the overall deterioration in increments was quite modest. Platelet concentrates can be stored under standard conditions for 1 to 5 days with acceptable clinical results.