The use of mean platelet volume for evaluation of quality of platelet concentrates.

Mean platelet volume (MPV) was determined on whole blood and platelet concentrates (PC) prepared from units of the same blood, as well as on samples of venous blood taken from donors before plateletpheresis and on PC collected by Spectra (COBE Laboratories Ltd) and CS-3000 (Baxter Healthcare Ltd) cell separators. The mean (+/- SD) MPV for PC prepared from blood (7.18 +/- 0.76 fl, n = 12) was significantly lower than that for whole blood (8.32 +/- 0.72 fl, P < 0.02) suggesting significant separation of young, large and dense platelets together with the red cells. In contrast, the mean MPV for PC collected with Spectra and CS-3000 cell separators was 8.48 +/- 0.52 fl (n = 20) and 8.94 +/- 0.60 fl (n = 12), respectively, and was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that determined in venous blood samples of donors taken before plateletpheresis (7.76 +/- 0.74 fl and 8.12 +/- 0.62 fl respectively). This indicates preferential separation of large platelets, which are by inference, of better quality, into PC.