Cellular changes in stored whole blood and the implication on efficacy of transfusion therapy in Nigeria

Abstract

Due to inadequacy of fractionation technology, whole blood is still frequently used in Nigeria. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which whole blood maybe a useful source of leucocytes and/or platelets. A unit of whole blood was collected (in CPDA-1 bag) from a Nigerian donor. Serial blood counts were determined from day of donation till expiry (day-35). The values before refrigeration were: haematocrit 40.1%, leucocyte 6.7x10⁹/l and platelet 253x10⁹/l, which fell during 4^oC storage to 35.1%, 0.2x10⁹/l and 35x10⁹/l on day-35. The leucocytes and platelets counts fell below the critical values of 3 x10⁹/l and 100 x10⁹/l, which corresponded to the lower limits for leucocyte and platelet counts in Nigerians, after the 2^nd day of storage. This study suggests that the potential usefulness of stored whole blood as a source of leucocytes and/or platelets was limited to the first 2 days after collection.