Currently, the majority of platelets transfused in the United States are collected by apheresis. The recent Food and Drug Administration guidance document published maintains that a postdonation platelet count for a donor remain >100,000/μL. During apheresis procedures, platelets are released from the splenic pool into circulation. This allows for higher postdonation platelet counts than anticipated. Some current plateletpheresis instruments take this into account when determining a safe product to be collected. On other instruments, the software does not allow for this correction. This may impact collections, but is expected to be resolved with a software update.
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