Sir,As a tertiary oncology center in Eastern India, we cater to transfusion needs of a large number of patients from the Eastern region and neighboring countries. As part of quality control (QC), NABH and AABB have specified a minimum platelet content of 3 × 1011 in single donor platelet (SDP) concentrates. A lower mean platelet count is reported in West Bengal native donors and could potentially result in lower platelet yield in SDP donations.[1]We examined platelet yield in SDP products from volunteer West Bengal native donors. We retrospectively analyzed SDP collections at our transfusion medicine unit over 7 months from January 1, 2015, to July 31, 2015. SDP collections were performed using the MCS+ 9000 system from Haemonetics, USA. The collection efficiency of the equipment ranged from 56% to 60%. Product platelet counts were assessed using the Coulter Ac Tdiff2 instrument (Beckman Coulter). Donors free of transfusion-transmitted infections, hemoglobin between 12.5 and 18 g/dl, and having a minimum platelet count of 1.5 lakhs/cumm were taken up for donations.We identified two categories of SDP donors; Category A: West Bengal native donors (West Bengal residents with Bengali as mother tongue) and Category B: non-native donors. A total of 311 donors were screened, and 252 procedures were performed. QC data were available in 182 SDP donations (72% of donations). SDP collections from Category A donors had significantly lower platelet content as compared with Category B donors (Chi-square statistical test, P < 0.05). Based on existing QC specifications, 70.5% of SDP collections from Category A donors were deemed unsatisfactory [Table 1]. Relatively, lower mean platelet counts are reported in West Bengal natives. Constitutional macrothrombocytopenia has also been reported in this region[23] [Table 2].
Table 1
Distribution of donors in our study
Table 2
Comparison of different studies
Distribution of donors in our studyComparison of different studiesRoy et al. reported that SDPs from donors with giant platelets led to better platelet recovery in patients and suggested that donors with giant platelets should be eligible for SDP donations.[4] The current QC criteria for SDP products are too stringent for donors from Eastern India and exclude a significant proportion of otherwise suitable volunteer SDP donors. We call for a review of QC criteria for SDP donations from native donors and suggest that this can be linked to the analysis of platelet recovery in transfused patients.