TITLE:
Prolonged Storage of Red Blood Cells for Transfusion in Citrate Phosphate Dextrose Adenine-1 Affects Their Viability
AUTHORS:
Samuel Antwi-Baffour, Samuel Appiah Danso, Jonathan Adjei, Ransford Kyeremeh, Michael Mark Addae
KEYWORDS:
Blood, Transfusion, Membrane, Red Blood Cells, Morphological, CPDA-1
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.9,
September
25,
2015
ABSTRACT: Most donor blood units for transfusion purposes are stored in Citrate
Phosphate Dextrose Adenine-1 (CPDA-1) at blood-banks until used. Despite
improvements made in blood storage attempts, CPDA-1 may still cause morphological
and degenerative changes in red blood cells (RBCs) if storage is prolonged. The
purpose of the study was to assess the viability of RBCs through characteristic
changes resulting from prolonged storage in CPDA-1. A total of fifteen whole
blood stored in CPDA-1 were analyzed for changes in erythrocytes morphology,
Packed Cell Volume (PCV) and osmotic fragility in a seven day interval over a
thirty-five day period. On day 1 (control), samples were analyzed within 6
hours of collection, and subsequently taken to the blood bank to be stored and
re-analyzed from days 7 to 35. Mean Cell Fragility (MCF) which is suggestive of
RBC membrane instability showed changes that were statistically significant between
days 1 and 35. Morphological changes observed over the storage period included
spherocytosis, echinocytosis, and marked sphero-echinocytosis with increased rouleaux
formation. PCV value decreased marginally over the period. The author concluded
that donor blood units stored for longer periods may result in RBC defects,
affecting their viability and consequently interfere with expected therapeutic
outcomes.