Multicomponent apheresis blood collection in the United States: current status and future directions.

Transfusion medicine in the USA confronts the ongoing challenges posed by a worsening blood supply, regulatory pressure, public pressure for increased safety and cost pressure. Multicomponent apheresis collection (MAC) is a powerful tool for addressing these issues. There are both clinical and operational advantages to MAC. The most important MAC procedures currently performed are platelet and two-red blood cell apheresis. Both procedures are growing in importance to the blood supply as the demand for platelets and red blood cells (RBC) increase. As the demand for safer and more standardized blood components increases, red cell apheresis may possibly become the collection standard.