Discuss the ways of platelets storage - Essay Example

PLATELET STORAGE Institute Discuss the ways of platelet storage. The transfusion of platelets has been deemed to be very important for certain pathological diseases like thrombocytopenia. This has called for proper methods of their storage for further clinical purposes. The platelets are an essential part of the human circulatory system where they possess the major function of assisting in blood clotting. For the purpose of transfusions, platelets are separated from the other blood components and stored according to proper storage requirements (Guyton et al 2006, Josefsson et al 2007)).

The first and foremost step after the collection for separating platelets is to screen the blood for bacteria as well for other diseases which include hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV (Kaufman 2006). Also another step before the separation of platelets is to actually make all the preparations before the blood is drawn from the donor. This includes making all the necessary preparations so that the withdrawal procedure is made sterile from the point of blood drawing till the point of infusion to the patient (Tullis et al 1959).

The blood is drawn from the patient in a container which contains ACD solution added to it. It is also ensured that blood is drawn in a clean method with no requirement for giving a second puncture as this is an important protocol of platelet collection that blood should be drawn from one puncture. This blood is circulated through a tube of plastic which is maintained at a temperature of 4 degrees centigrade. The blood flows in this chamber and the residue that is left flows into a separate pool and this residue is basically the plasma which is devoid of red and white blood cells and contain only platelets.

This platelet containing plasma is then passed through another chamber such that 10 ml of the fluid flows in every one minute. The platelets flow into a collector where they are maintained at 250 x gravity. The temperature is also 4 degrees centigrade in this collector and this favours only the collection of platelets in this collector. The collector is first decelerated to allow the plasma to escape and then accelerated with a solution that contains sodium acetate, sodium chloride and dextrose in the concentrations of 0.2 Gm. % 0.8 Gm. % and 5 Gm.

% respectively. The purpose of adding this solution is to purify the platelets from the remaining proteins of plasma. The bowl is then decelerated and is permitted to flow into a bag which contains gelatine. This is for the purpose of maintenance of sterility and disinfection. The outlet of the bag is sealed with a heater. This is followed by storage in platelet banks (Tullis et al 1959). The maximum storage time of platelets ranges from a minimum of 5 days to a maximum of 7 days but mostly the deadline of 5 days is followed.

The platelets cannot be stored beyond that owing to the fact that there is a susceptibility of bacterial growth within the platelets and also due to the fact that platelets may lose their functional capacity and hence they are discarded following this deadline. The preserved platelets are kept in the platelet banks and it believed that a better temperature for the storage of platelets is the room temperature rather than refrigerating them. This is because it has been found out that when these platelets are transfused in the patient they maintain a longer life span as compared to the refrigerated platelets.

Also their structural integrity is not much altered at room temperature (Josefsson et al 2007). A temperature of 22 degrees has also been found to be optimum for platelet storage as the viability of the platelets is also maintained at this temperature. Further research is still required to prolong the storage period of the platelets which is still widely considered to be only 5 days (Murphy et al 1970). References Top of Form GUYTON, A. C., & HALL, J. E. (2006). Textbook of medical physiology.

Philadelphia, Penns, Elsevier Saunders. Bottom of Form Top of Form JOSEFSSON, HARTWIG, & HOFFMEISTER. (2007). Platelet Storage Temperature – How Low Can We Go?Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy. 34, 253-261. Top of Form KAUFMAN RM. (2006). Platelets: testing, dosing and the storage lesion--recent advances. Hematology / the Education Program of the American Society of Hematology. American Society of Hematology. Education Program. 492-6. Top of Form MURPHY, SCOTT, & GARDNER, FRANK H. (1970).

Platelet storage at 22°C; metabolic, morphologic, and functional studies. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=291933. Bottom of Form Top of Form TULLIS JL, SURGENOR DM, & BAUDANZA P. (1959). Preserved platelets: their preparation, storage and clinical use. Blood. 14, 456-75. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form