No Difference in Patient Outcomes Following PR Platelet, Low-Yield PR Platelet Transfusion

Pathogen-reduced platelets and low-yield pathogen-reduced platelets may be used equivalently without a discernable difference in clinical outcomes among patients of varying diagnoses, according to findings published recently in Transfusion.

A team of investigators from Stanford University Pathology and Stanford Blood Center conducted a retrospective review of platelet transfusions at Stanford University Medical Center and compared the number of red blood cell units and pathogen-reduced (PR) platelets and low-yield PR platelets units transfused, along with transfusion-free interval and corrected count increment (CCI). The team also performed subgroup analyses on hematology-oncology inpatients and outpatients and non-hematology-oncology patients.

Among 1,402 patients examined during the study period, the average number of platelets transfused was not significantly different between patients first transfused with regular PR platelets compared to low-yield PR platelets (2.8 versus 3.1 units, respectively). The average number of RBC units transfused was also similar for both groups (4.8 versus 4.3 for regular PR and low-yield PR platelets, respectively). Investigators reported that among 10,257 platelet transfusions examined, the transfusion-free interval and CCI were also comparable between regular PR platelet and low-yield PR platelet units. The team observed similar findings in all subgroups, except for shortened transfusion-free intervals among hematology–oncology inpatients.

According to investigators, this is the first U.S. study to show clinical equivalence between regular and low-dose PR platelets. The findings support the safe practice of using low-dose PR platelets across different patient groups and suggest that low-yield PR platelets may be used in an equivalent manner to regular PR platelets to maintain an adequate platelet inventory.