Decreased levels of ferritin, mild thrombocytosis, and increased erythropoietin are sequential events among frequent plateletpheresis donors: Implication for a ferritin screen.

BACKGROUND: It is generally recognized that repeat apheresis increases the risk for iron deficiency, thus may impact on the blood homeostasis. With regard to donor vigilance, we clarified the mid- to long-term effects of plateletapheresis by comparing the most frequent donors with the first-time ones in hematological and biochemical tests. METHODS: Levels of erythropoietin (EPO), hemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin were analyzed in double-unit (500 mL whole blood or 6 × 1011 apheresis platelets) donations in three male cohorts, with identifiers of first-time whole-blood donors (n = 30), first-time platelet donors transited from maximal whole blood to apheresis (n = 30) and frequent donors subjected to extreme plateletpheresis (n = 90), respectively. According to the number of donations, the last earnest cohort, who donate almost 24 times a year, was further subdivided into three groups- casual (76-120 life-time donations in 5 years), mediocre (121-168 within 7 years) and enthusiastic (≥169 within 7 years and a month). RESULTS: Regardless of the donation experience in whole blood or plateletpheresis, iron deficiency (serum ferritin concentrations <15 µg/L) was identified in all earnest cohorts. The ferritin means were significantly lower in plateletpheresis groups, with the lowest values in the enthusiastic group. EPO levels showed a significant inverse correlation with ferritin (p = 0.015, r = -0.224). Long-term earnest donors had the lowest iron stores accompanied by a later thrombocytosis and a final increase in EPO was revealed. CONCLUSION: Regular ferritin screens are crucial to ensure a high level of donor health protection.

Evaluating the Effect of Inert Recruiting on Blood Donations Immediately After the Consecutive Earthquakes.

OBJECTIVE: Disasters can have impact on the demand and supply of blood, with such a difficult perspective, planning of an appropriate response to counterbalance the need for blood is of paramount importance. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate how the impact of blood imbalances may be absorbed by inert recruitment of donors during 2 life-threatening earthquakes that shook Taiwan on the same date in 2016 and 2018. METHOD: A retrospective database search from blood bank registries was developed. RESULTS: Despite the public efforts to restrain the flow, a 3- to 4-fold increase in volunteers responded to the earthquakes. This surge alleviated after a day and did not contribute to sub-par collections. Those who donated more than usual immediately after the event were identified as first-time, younger, and female populations. The hospitals providing inpatient care to the injured transfused a slightly decreased amount of packed red cells, whereas the use of whole blood, platelets, and plasma remained stable. The inert recruiting was effective in reducing the duration of donor overabundance. CONCLUSION: Compared with other examples, the inert recruiting approach was effective in reducing the duration of donor overabundance to 1 day and may be useful for disaster preparedness of transfusion supplies.