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1
COMPARACIÓN DE LAS TECNICAS DE IDENTIFICACIÓN DE
ANTICUERPOS EN PACIENTES CON REFRACTARIEDAD
PLAQUETARIA DE TIPO INMUNITARIO EN COLOMBIA
Directora
DOCTORA LUCIA DEL PILAR CORTES
Medica transfusional
_______________________
2
NOTA DE ADVERTENCIA
“La Universidad no se hace responsable por los conceptos emitidos pos sus
alumnos en sus trabajos de tesis. Sólo velará porque no se publique nada
contrario al dogma y a la moral católica y por que las tesis no contengan
ataques personales contra persona alguna, antes bien se vea en ellas el
anhelo de buscar la verdad y la justicia”.
3
COMPARACIÓN DE LAS TECNICAS DE IDENTIFICACIÓN DE
ANTICUERPOS EN PACIENTES CON REFRACTARIEDAD
PLAQUETARIA DE TIPO INMUNITARIO EN COLOMBIA
APROBADO
APROBADO
5
DEDICATORIA
A flor abuela y patricia tía, quienes me han visto en todos los momentos de
mi vida, dándome un apoyo incondicional, una fuerza y fortaleza por medio
de una palabra o ayuda para que el día de hoy pueda tener esta alegría en
nuestras vidas.
6
Igualmente a todos muchas gracias por su comprensión durante toda esta
experiencia y desde luego por el apoyo y fortaleza para no decaer en los
malos momentos y así lograr tener este sueño realizado.
7
AGRADECIMIENTOS
Muchas gracias.
8
TABLA DE CONTENIDO
PÁG.
1. INTRODUCCIÓN 1-3
2. MARCO TEÓRICO 4 - 25
2.1 CARACTERISTICAS ESTRUCTURALES DE LAS 4 - 11
PLAQUETAS
2.1.1 zona periférica o pared celular
2.1.1.1 Capa exterior o glucocáliz 5
2.1.1.2 Membrana celular 6-7
2.1.1.3 Citoesqueleto 7
2.1.1.4 Área submembranosa 7
2.1.2 zona de sol- gel o hialoplasma
2.1.2.1 Haz marginal de microtúlos 7
2.1.2.2 Microfilamentos 8
2.1.3 zona de organelos
2.1.3.1 Mitocondrias 8
2.1.3.2 Lisosomas 8
2.1.3.3 Gránulos 8-9
2.1.3.3.1 Gránulos densos 8-9
2.1.3.3.2 Gránulos alfa 9
2.1.3.4 Masas de glucógeno (citoplasma) 10
2.1.3.5 Aparato de Golgi 10
2.1.4 Sistema tubular denso 10
2.1.5 sistema canalicular abierto 10 - 11
2.2 REFRACTARIEDAD PLAQUETARIA 11 - 14
9
2.2.1 Definición 11
2.2.2 Causas 12 - 13
2.2.3 antecedentes 13 - 14
2.2.4 porcentaje de refractariedad plaquetaria de 14
causa inmune
2.3 Aloinmunización 14 - 15
2.3.1 Mecanismo de aloinmunización plaquetaria 16
2.3.2 Aloinmunización HLA primaria 16
2.3.3 Aloinmunización HLA secundaria 16
2.4 Técnicas para la identificación de anticuerpos en 16 - 45
Refractariedad plaquetaria
2.4.1 MAIPA 16 - 19
2.4.1.1 Fundamento 16
2.4.1.2 Detección 16
2.4.1.3 Equipos necesarios para 17
montar una técnicas de MAIPA
2.4.1.4 Metodología 17 - 19
2.4.1.5 Interpretación de resultados 19
2.4.1.6 Desventajas 19
2.4.1.7 Control de calidad 19
2.4.2 Adherencia de células rojas a una fase 19 - 26
Sólida (SPRCA)
2.4.2.1 Fundamento 19 - 20
2.4.2.2 Detección 21
2.4.2.3 Equipos necesarios para 21
Montar la técnica
2.4.2.4 Metodología 21 - 23
2.4.2.5 Interpretación de resultados 23 - 24
2.4.2.6 desventajas 24
2.4.2.7 Control de calidad 25 - 26
10
2.4.3 Prueba de linfocitotoxicidad(LCT) 27 - 28
2.4.3.1 Fundamento 27
2.4.3.2 Detección 27
2.4.3.3 Equipos necesarios para 27 - 28
montar una técnica de
linfocitotoxicidad
2.4.3.4 Metodología 28
2.4.3.5 Interpretación de resultados 28
2.4.3.6 Desventajas 28
2.4.3.7 Control de calidad 28
2.4.4 Ensayo inmunoabsorbente conjugado a una
enzima (ELISA) inmunoensayos 29 - 32
2.4.4.1 Fundamento 29 - 30
2.4.4.2 Detección 30
2.4.4.3 Equipos necesarios para 30
montar una técnica de ELISA
2.4.4.4 Metodología 31
2.4.4.5 Interpretación de resultados 31
2.4.4.6 desventajas 31
2.4.4.7 Control de calidad 32
2.4.5 Prueba inmunofluorescente especifico para
plaquetas (PSIFT) 32 - 36
2.4.5.1 Fundamento 32 - 33
2.4.5.2 Detección 33
2.4.5.3 Equipos necesarios para 33
montar una inmunofluorescencia
2.4.5.4 Metodología 33 - 35
2.4.5.5 Interpretación de resultados 35
2.4.5.6 Desventajas 35
2.4.5.7 Control de calidad 35 - 36
11
2.4.6 Ensayo de aglutinación de látex. 36 - 39
2.4.6.1 Fundamento 36
2.4.6.2 Detección 36
2.4.6.3 Equipos necesarios para 36
montar una aglutinación de látex
2.4.6.4 Metodología 36 - 37
2.4.6.5 Interpretación de resultados 37
2.4.6.6 desventajas 37
2.4.6.7 Control de calidad 37
2.4.7 Citometría de flujo 37 - 45
2.7.7.1 Fundamento 37 - 39
2.7.7.2 Detección 40
2.7.7.3 equipos necesarios para 40
montar la citometría de flujo
2.7.7.3 Metodología 40 - 41
2.7.7.4 Interpretación de resultados 41 - 43
2.7.7.5 desventajas 43 - 44
2.7.7.5 Control de calidad 45
4. OBJETIVOS 49
4.1Específico 49
4.2General 49
5. METODOLOGÍA 50 - 52
5.1 tipo de investigación 50
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5.2 selección de los artículos 50
5.3 definición de criterios para la inclusión y
exclusión de los artículos 50 - 51
5.3.1 criterios de inclusión 50
5.3.1.1 tipos de artículos 50
La investigación
De artículos
De los artículos
6. RESULTADOS 54 - 62
7. CONCLUSIONES 63 - 66
8. RECOMENDACIONES 67
9. REFERENCIAS 68 - 71
10. ANEXOS 72
13
LISTA DE TABLAS Y FIGURAS
14
LISTA DE ANEXOS
15
· Anexo 10 Articulo transfusión de concentrados de Plaquetas, plasma
y componentes Plasmáticos, y granulocitos.
16
GLOSARIO
18
15. INMUNOFLUORESCECIA: Es una técnica de laboratorio
empleada para identificar anticuerpos o antígenos específicos, con
ayuda de un fluorocromo encargado de marcar el componente que
se necesita.
19
22. REFRACTARIEDAD PLAQUETARIA: Fallo en el incremento del
número de plaquetas después de dos transfusiones seguidas con
concentrados plaquetarios de excelente calidad, AB0 compatibles
y en ausencia de fiebre, infección, hemorragia, esplenomegalia o
CID.(9)
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RESUMEN
21
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the techniques used for detecting antibodies in patients
with immune platelet refractoriness.
In this way, this work will give you the skills to choose the best technique that
can be adapt to the Colombian conditions, the patient's needs, the financial
position and the most accurate and precise method to diagnose the pathology
and give the most suitable treatment to the patient.
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1. INTRODUCCIÓN
1
Una de las causas por las cuales se origina la refractariedad plaquetaria es
inmunológica la cual se asocia con una rápida destrucción de las plaquetas,
sangrado activo y disminución de la cantidad después de 1 hora de la
transfusión del concentrado plaquetario (9), puede deberse a aloanticuerpos
dirigidos contra aloantígenos plaquetarios, o en su mayoría por anticuerpos
anti-leucocitarios en especial por aloinmunización de tipo HLA clase I. Esta
causa inmunológica, debe sospecharse en los casos de refractariedad sin
causa clínica que la justifique, por lo cual es más frecuente en mujeres
multíparas y politransfundidos, estimándose que en el 20% al 50% de los
pacientes politransfundidos pueden detectarse aloanticuerpos contra
antígenos HLA y/o anticuerpos antiplaquetarios específicos. Por otra parte,
los autoanticuerpos que causan refractariedad plaquetaria se encuentran
generalmente en pacientes con púrpura trombocitopenia inmune (PTI) y en
algunos pacientes con trasplante de médula ósea. (9)
Conociendo cuales son los motivos, razones y circunstancias por las cuales
se ocasiona la refractariedad plaquetaria en pacientes politransfundidos, se
pueden usar técnicas para la identificación de anticuerpos como:
· Inmovilización específica de los antígenos plaquetarios con
anticuerpos monoclonales(MAIPA)
· Adherencia de células rojas a una fase sólida (SPRCA)
· Prueba de linfocitotoxicidad (LCT)
2
· Ensayo inmunoabsorbente conjugado a una enzima (ELISA),
inmunoensayos
· Prueba inmunofluorescente especifico para plaquetas (PSIFT)
· Ensayo de aglutinación de látex.
· Citometría de flujo
3
2 MARCO TEÓRICO
Las plaquetas son discos de forma elipsoidal que como todas las
demás células sanguíneas provienen de una célula hematopoyética
Stem que da lugar a la línea megacariocítica. En 1906, Wright
demostró que estas partículas se formaban en la médula ósea por la
fragmentación del citoplasma de una célula poliploide, el
megacariocito (células muy grandes). Su recuento normal en la sangre
es de 150 - 350 x 103 plaquetas/mm3 y la función principal es la
prevención y detención de la pérdida de sangre del torrente
circulatorio. Se calcula que en un individuo normal, 42 x 10 9
plaquetas/L/día aproximadamente se renuevan de la circulación, con
un tiempo promedio de supervivencia de 7-10 días, siendo el bazo el
sitio donde se destruyen.
5
2.1.1.2 MEMBRANA CELULAR
w Es trilaminar:
o Proteína contráctil que participa en la retracción del coágulo
(trombostetina).
o Acido araquidónico (precursor de prostaglandinas).
o Factor plaquetario.
w Mantiene la integridad celular de la plaqueta.
w Constituye una bicapa lipoproteica con glicoproteínas que
funcionan como receptores de los agonistas fisiológicos de las
plaquetas (ADP, TXA2, trombina), proteínas adhesivas
(fibrinógeno, fibronectina, laminina, trombospondina, vitronectina,
factor de von Willebrand [vWF]) y para ligandos fibrosos como el
colágeno, además, posee enzimas importantes para el
funcionamiento celular y fosfolípidos. Es responsable de la
interacción de la célula con el medio circundante a través de
receptores entre las que figuran las integrinas las cuales se
caracterizan por enlazarse a proteínas que tienen la secuencia
arginina-glicina-aspartato (RGD): fibrinógeno, fibronectina,
vitronectina, vWF, colágeno.
w La GPIIb/IIIa ocupa una gran proporción de la superficie
plaquetaria (15 % de la proteína total de la membrana y 3 % de la
célula). Se encuentra principalmente en la membrana plaquetaria
(1–3x104 moléculas /plaqueta). La región extracelular posee los
dominios de identificación de la trombina y el vWF. Las diferentes
porciones de este complejo tienen una función: la región
extracelular facilita el acceso al subendotelio y la interacción con
trombina y vWF; la región intracitoplasmática une los dominios
funcionales extraplaquetarios con el citoesqueleto de actina; la
6
región transmembrana actúa como anclaje de la glicoproteína en la
membrana plaquetaria.
7
2.1.2.2 MICROFILAMENTOS
w Están formados por proteínas contráctiles como la actina, la miosina,
la actomiosina (trombostetina).
w Los filamentos de actina enrejados, conectados con el citoesqueleto
submembranoso y miosina se encuentra en forma no polimérica en la
célula en reposo.
w Intervienen en los cambios de forma de la plaqueta y en la secreción
de sustancias.
2.1.3.1 MITOCONDRIAS
w Son poco abundantes.
w Contribuyen al depósito de ATP y de calcio.
w las mitocondrias, capacitan a los gránulos en la oxidación de ácidos
grasos proveyéndolas de metabolismo aeróbico;
2.1.3.2 LISOSOMAS
w Contienen enzimas hidrolíticas que intervienen en la lisis celular.
2.1.3.3 GRÁNULOS
8
w Encierran metales y otras sustancias.
w Tienen una función secretora.
w Se caracterizan por su alta densidad electrónica que le confieren el
elevado contenido en calcio (50 % del total, en una concentración 2
mol/L) y fósforo inorgánico
w los gránulos alfa con halos periféricos de baja densidad; estos son
heterogéneos y algunos contienen enzimas lisosómicas mientras
otros son ricos en tromboglobulina, factor plaquetario 4 (FP-4),
fibrinógeno, vWF, FVa, trombospondina, factor mitogénico y otras
proteínas de la coagulación. La ausencia de estos gránulos provoca el
síndrome de la plaqueta gris.
w Son numerosos.
w Sintetizados por el Aparato de Golgi.
w Proteínas específicas que se liberan cuando se activan las plaquetas.
w Son organelos esféricos de 140 a 400 nm en diámetro, ricos en
macromoléculas con una porción de alta densidad en electrones.
w Constituyen un 15 % del volumen total de las células. Sus membranas
contienen GPIIb/IIIa, pequeñas cantidades de GPIb, GPIX y P
selectina.
w Tienen una importante participación en el funcionamiento celular, al
propiciar la interacción entre plaquetas, de ahí que la cantidad de
gránulos alfa (como promedio 35-40) determina el valor funcional de
la célula. También participan en la interacción con otras células a
través de la liberación de su contenido.
9
2.1.3.4 MASAS DE GLUCÓGENO (citoplasma)
w Son grupos de esta sustancia.
w Contienen partículas de glucógeno diseminadas o aglomeradas que
constituyen la fuente energética de la célula en forma similar a las
células musculares.
w Contiene ribosomas en muy pocas cantidades, fundamentalmente en
las células jóvenes, lo que concuerda con la casi nula actividad de
síntesis proteica.
w Soporta, además, los microtúbulos que aparecen en forma de
circunferencia, ubicados de manera concéntrica y que mantienen la
forma discoide de la célula y garantizan su resistencia a la
deformación.
10
w Está formado por canales ramificados, se conecta a la membrana
externa y posee características similares a ella en cuanto a su
composición. A través de este sistema se transportan las GPIIb/IIIa y
la GP1b hacia los gránulos.
2.2.1 DEFINICION
11
2.2.2 CAUSAS
2
* AC= Área o superficie corporal (m ).
NO INMUNE INMUNE
CID Anticuerpos HLA
Sepsis Anticuerpos contra plaquetas
Uso de fármacos (anfotericina) Complejos inmunes circulantes
Viremia Anticuerpos leucocitarios
Fiebre Autoanticuerpos (PTI)
Radioterapia, quimioterapia Drogas dependientes de anticuerpos
plaquetarios.
Vasculitis(daño endotelial) Incompatibilidad de grupo sanguíneo
ABO
Esplenomegalia
Fuente: YanYun Wu. Cáncer: principios y prácticas de oncología, 7ed. capítulo 52. 2005
2.2.3 ANTECEDENTES
PORCENTAJE AUTORES
20-30% Nemo,GJ and McCurdy PR Transfusion 1991;31:584
30-70% Friedberg RC et al. Blood 1993; 81:3428
30% TRAP Study Group NEJM 1997; 337:1861
Fuente: Artículos de revistas incluidas en la revisión bibliográfica.
2.3 ALOINMUNIZACIÓN
Se define como el desarrollo de anticuerpos anti-HLA de Clase I
o anticuerpos HPA o ambos. La Refractariedad plaquetaria es
no obtener respuesta satisfactoria a las transfusiones de
plaquetas. (3)
Se desconoce el mecanismo preciso de aloinmunización
plaquetaria, debido a que las plaquetas expresan solo
antígenos HLA clase I.
14
La expresión de antígenos HLA de clase I y II en las células
presentadoras de antígenos funcionales del componente
sanguíneo transfundido, puede ser el causante del inicio de una
respuesta inmune en el receptor. Es así como se ha postulado
que las células presentadoras de antígenos presentan péptidos
antigénicos en conjunción con antígenos HLA clase II del
donante a linfocitos T CD4 (TH2) del receptor, para inducir la
producción de citoquinas y así estimular a los linfocitos B para
producir aloanticuerpos. Los péptidos HLA clase I también
pueden ser reconocidos por los linfocitos T CD8 (T H1), iniciando
así una respuesta inmune citotóxica. Por ello, esta respuesta
inmune mediada por linfocitos T requiere de la interacción entre
las células presentadoras de antígenos del donante y linfocitos
T CD4 y linfocitos T CD8 del receptor.
15
2.3.2 ALOINMUNIZACIÓN HLA PRIMARIA
La aloinmunización parece ser iniciada por las células que
expresan tanto antígenos HLA de clase I y clase II como
linfocitos y células presentadoras de antígenos. Las
plaquetas sólo expresan antígenos HLA de clase I. (3)
17
Figura 3. Representación esquemática de la técnica de MAIPA.
18
4. Podrán detectarse mediante ELISA, por adición de anti-IgG
humana marcada con enzimas como Fosfatasa alcalina y
Peroxidasa y el sustrato de color correspondiente. (8,16)
2.4.1.5 Interpretación de resultados: dado por la
presencia o ausencia del pellets en el fondo de
la microplaca. La presencia de anticuerpos
HLA-II no interfiere en el resultado y el empleo
de varios anticuerpos monoclonales permite la
identificación de diversas especificidades
presentes en un mismo suero, sin necesidad de
realizar adsorciones diferenciales. (8,16)
2.4.1.6 Desventaja: El principal inconveniente radica en
la necesidad de utilizar un amplio panel de
anticuerpos monoclonales dirigidos contra todas
las GP cuando se estudian sueros
desconocidos. (kiefel et al, 1987)
2.4.1.7 Control de calidad: Si el anticuerpo monoclonal
reconoce el mismo epítope que el anticuerpo
plaquetario se pueden obtener falsos resultados
negativos (kiefel et al, 1987)
21
Ø Permitir que todos los reactivos alcancen la temperatura
ambiente (18-25°C).
1. Extraer la microplaca
2. Añadir Plasmas Rico en Plaquetas en o concentrados
plaquetarios del donante a los pocillos (suero de paciente,
control positivo y control negativo).
3. Centrifugar la microplaca para inmovilizar las plaquetas
en la superficie de los pocillos.
4. Trasvasar y eliminar las plaquetas que no se han unido
lavando los pocillos de la microplaca manualmente con
PBS.
5. Añadir LISS a cada pocillo.
6. Añadir control positivo o control negativo a los pocillos
apropiados.
7. Añadir suero del paciente a los pocillos restantes con
monoplacas de plaquetas de donante.
8. Centrifugar.
9. Incubar la microplaca a 37°C
10. Lavar los pocillos de la microplaca manualmente con
PBS
11. Añadir reactivo anti-IgG a cada pocillo inmediatamente
después del lavado.
12. Añadir CÉLULAS ROJAS INDICADORAS MASPAT a
cada pocillo. Agitar suavemente.
13. Centrifugar la microplaca
14. Las reacciones pueden examinarse ahora
macroscópicamente o usando un lector automático, como se
muestra en la figura 5. (8,16)
22
Figura 5. Sistema en fase sólida para la detección de
anticuerpos IgG contra plaquetas.
23
Una reacción positiva o positiva débil (los
eritrocitos forman una capa en el fondo del
pocillo) indica la presencia de anticuerpos
plaquetarios y/o HLA específicos en el suero.
Una reacción negativa (los eritrocitos forman un
botón en el fondo del pocillo) indica la ausencia
de anticuerpos plaquetarios y/o HLA específicos
en el suero, como se encuentra esquematizado
en la figura 6. (8,16)
24
sensibilidad como la fuerza de las reacciones en
los resultados finales del test. (8,16)
2.4.2.7 Control de calidad: Se recomienda realizar el
control positivo y negativo MASPAT para cada
donante. Si se requiere un autocontrol del
paciente, el suero del paciente debe ser
analizado frente a las plaquetas del paciente
mismo derivadas de una muestra de sangre con
EDTA. El control negativo MASPAT debe
realizarse para determinar los anticuerpos
unidos a las plaquetas del donante. El control
positivo verifica si se ha obtenido una
monocapa de plaquetas adecuada del donante.
Los resultados falsos positivos o negativos
pueden ser originados por contaminación del
material de análisis o por diferir del método
recomendado. Los resultados falsos positivos
pueden darse si las plaquetas del
donante/paciente son ABO incompatibles con el
suero analizado, si los anticuerpos IgG están
unidos a las plaquetas del donante o si la
concentración de plaquetas es demasiado baja
(<0,5 x 108/ml). Los resultados falsos negativos
pueden darse con un control positivo MASPAT
si las plaquetas usadas no contienen los
antígenos HPA-1a y HPA-3a. El lavado
insuficiente antes de añadir el reactivo MASPAT
anti-IgG y/o las células rojas indicadoras
MASPAT puede producir reacciones falsas
negativas. Si la velocidad y el tiempo de
25
centrifugación no ha sido optimizados, puede
darse una adherencia deficiente de plaquetas a
la microplaca. La centrifugación insuficiente de
la microplaca después de añadir las células
rojas indicadoras MASPAT puede producir
resultados falsos positivos en todos los análisis
(incluido el control negativo). Las reacciones
falsas positivas pueden deberse al fracaso de
resuspender correctamente las células rojas
indicadoras MASPAT.
La centrifugación excesiva de la microplaca
después de añadir las células rojas indicadoras
MASPAT puede producir resultados falsos
negativos en todos los análisis (incluido el
control positivo). En todos los casos es
importante utilizar controles que no dejen dudas
al respecto de la buena obtención del
concentrado (PRP), sobre todo si lo que
evaluamos es una muestra proveniente de una
trombocitopenia por ejemplo en casos de
trombocitopenia autoinmune materna. La
monocapa deberá ser protegida por lavados
manuales con el fin de que no se den espacios
que permitan el alojamiento de micropartículas
inesperadas, dando lugar a reacciones
falsas.(8,16)
26
2.4.3 Prueba de linfocitotoxicidad (LCT)
28
2.4.4 Ensayo inmunoabsorbente conjugado a una enzima
(ELISA) inmunoensayos
29
detectar anticuerpos antiplaquetarios. Las
plaquetas control, previamente sensibilizados
con el suero problema, se incuban, en
microplacas, con la antiglobulina marcada.
Posteriormente, se les añade el sustrato
necesario para inducir la reacción de color, que
se cuantifica mediante análisis
espectrofotométrico.(8,16)
2.4.4.2 Detecta: anticuerpos HLA y anticuerpos
antiplaquetarios
30
2.4.4.4 Metodología:
31
2.4.4.7 Control de calidad: Tener un personal capacitado
para el manejo del equipo, que las placas se
encuentren en buen estado y que sea el kit que
se necesite acorde con las necesidades del
consumidor, equipos bien calibrados y fechas
de vencimiento activas.(8,16)
32
plaquetaria del paciente y de una prueba
indirecta que estudia la reactividad del suero del
paciente(anticuerpo libre) y la del eluido sobre
plaquetas normales.(8,16)
2.4.5.2 Detecta: Anticuerpos antiplaquetarios y anti
leucocitarios (anti-HLA)
2.4.5.4 Metodología
Las plaquetas tratadas con PFA
(paraformaldehido) se incuban con el suero y
una vez lavadas se les añade antiglobulina
humana marcada con isotiocianato de
fluoresceína. Finalmente se procede a la lectura
33
de los resultados en un microscopio de
fluorescencia o por citometría de flujo. (8,16)
INMUNOFLUORESCENCIA DIRECTA POR
CITOMETRIA DE FLUJO
Técnica usada para detectar Ag presentes en la
superficie celular de la serie blanca por medio
de AcMo marcados con un fluorocromo. Las
células son primeramente marcadas con los Ac
Mo conjugados con fluorocromos,
posteriormente la serie roja es lisada.
1) Poner en cada tubo un volumen de muestra
que contenga 1x106células.
2) Poner el anticuerpo monoclonal (la cantidad
dependerá de la casa comercial que lo sirva
debido a la concentración y el fluorocromo
utilizado).
3) Agitar e incubar durante 10-15 min a
temperatura ambiente en oscuridad.
4) Añadir solución lisante comercial
(dietilenglicol y formaldehido).
5) Agitar e incubar durante 5-7 min a
temperatura ambiente y en oscuridad.
6) Centrifugar a 300rpm. Durante 5 minutos a
temperatura ambiente.
7) Decantar el sobrenadante.
8) Resuspender el botón celular.
9) Añadir PBS.
10) Centrifugar a 300 rpm durante 5 minutos a
temperatura ambiente.
11) Decantar el sobrenadante.
34
12) Resuspender el botón celular.
13) Añadir PBS.
14) Leer en el citómetro.
(www.citometriadeflujo.com)
· Centrifuga
· Mezclador
· Pipeta
· Microscopio
· Látex con el antígeno o anticuerpo que se necesita
2.4.6.4 Metodología
1. Se toma una muestra de sangre en tubo seco
2. Se centrifuga se saca el suero
36
3. Se coge una gota de suero y se mezcla con el
látex que contenga el antígeno o el anticuerpo
que se necesita.
4. Se observa la aglutinación (8,16)
2.4.6.5 Interpretación de Resultados: Por tanto,
aglutinación (+) indica ausencia de la sustancia
a estudiar, y aglutinación (-) indica presencia de
la misma(8,16)
2.4.6.6 Desventaja: La poca cantidad de antígeno o
anticuerpo que puede reaccionar para formar la
aglutinación ocasionando la poca visibilidad de
la reacción.
2.4.6.7 Control de calidad: Cuidado con la placa de
aglutinación que se vaya a usar de que no
tenga fechas de vencimiento viejas y que la
placa contenga el látex con el antígeno o
anticuerpo que se desee estudiar. No se
presenten problemas con la muestra y esté bien
centrifugada con el tiempo y las revoluciones a
las que se necesiten.(8,16)
2.4.7.4 Metodología
Es el análisis de las características de las células
mediante inspección al microscopio, o midiendo de
manera automatizada las propiedades particulares de las
células.
1- Se toma una muestra de sangre periférica
2- Se procesa la muestra dependiendo de las
necesidades del estudio utilizando un fluorocromo
específico que ayuda a la diferenciación celular. Lo
que el paciente presente y lo que se quiera estudiar,
programando el equipo y sabiendo leer los gráficos de
resultados(8,15,16)
3- Técnica usada para la detección de Ag presentes en
la superficie celular de los hematíes y plaquetas por
40
medio de AcMo conjugados con fluorocromos. Las
células son primeramente marcadas con los AcMo y
después de unos lavados son adquiridas en el
citómetro en escala logarítmica y velocidad baja.
1) Poner en cada tubo muestra del paciente.
2) Añadir los anticuerpos monoclonales.
3) Agitar e incubar durante 10-15 minutos a
temperatura ambiente y oscuridad.
4) Añadir PBS
5) Centrifugar a 300 rpm. Durante 5 min.
6) Quitar el sobrenadante con pipeta Pasteur.
7) Resuspender el botón.
8) Añadir PBS.
9) Leer en el citómetro colocando los
detectores/amplificadores de SSC/FSC en escala
logarítmica (para serie blanca se utilizan en escala
lineal) y adquirir en velocidad
baja.(www.citometriadeflujo.com).citometriadeflujo.com)
2.4.7.5 Interpretación de Resultados: la citometría de
flujo es una tecnología compleja que nos
permite analizar una población celular
proporcionándonos una amplia variedad de
parámetros que van desde el simple tamaño
celular hasta medidas de densidad de epítopes
o mecanismos de fluidos de membrana
obteniéndose un excelente muestreo estadístico
de los parámetros evaluados en células
individuales. Estos pueden ser correlacionados
y mostrados en una amplia variedad de
formatos multidimensionales.
41
Cuando este análisis revela sub-poblaciones
celulares de interés es posible seleccionarlos o
separarlos en cámaras separadas y ser usadas
para cultivos.
44
2.4.7.7 Control de calidad: Realizar los controles
positivos y negativos de las muestras, que el
citómetro se encuentre bien calibrado y los
fluorocromos en buen estado alejados de la luz
que puede ser un componente degradador y
observar las fechas de vencimiento de los
reactivos para evitar resultados falsos para los
pacientes.
Refractariedad
plaquetaria.
Causas Definición
45
Técnicas para la detección
de anticuerpos
Anti-HLA
MAIPA PRUEBA ELISA Prueba de Ensayo Citometría ELISA Prueba de Ensayo Citome
DE inmunofluo de de flujo inmunofluore
rescencia
de tría de
scencia
LINFOTOX especifico aglutinaci aglutinaci
especifico flujo
ICIDAD para ón de para ón de
plaquetas látex ADHERENCIA DE plaquetas látex
(PIFT) CELULAS ROJAS (PIFT)
A UNA FASE
SÓLIDA
46
3. FORMULACIÓN DEL PROBLEMA Y JUSTIFICACIÓN
48
4. OBJETIVOS
49
5. METODOLOGÍA
50
5.3.1.2 Tipo de estudio designado para la investigación
51
Como estrategia de búsqueda se utilizarán una combinación de términos
relacionados con refractariedad plaquetaria en especial las técnicas de
identificación de anticuerpos.
· Refractariedad plaquetaria
· Técnicas identificación de anticuerpos plaquetarios
· Técnicas de identificación de anticuerpos de refractariedad plaquetaria
· MAIPA
· Adherencia de células rojas a una fase sólida (SPRCA)
· Prueba de linfocitotoxicidad (LCT)
· Ensayo inmunoabsorbente conjugado a una enzima (ELISA),
inmunoensayos
· Prueba inmunofluorescente especifico para plaquetas (PSIFT)
· Ensayo de aglutinación de látex.
· Citometría de flujo
52
de exclusión e inclusión mencionados con anterioridad y aun mas importante
por el tema que se está trabajando en este momento.
1. Definición de refractariedad
53
RESULTADOS
55
5. ELISA: Es una técnica inespecífica ya que detecta anticuerpos
HLA y anticuerpos antiplaquetarios por lo cual no es de muy buen
diagnostico a menos que se complemente por otras técnicas, sin
embargo se puede decir que es la técnica de más sensibilidad
puesto que tienen la probabilidad de clasificar correctamente a un
individuo enfermo, es decir, la probabilidad de que para un sujeto
enfermo se obtenga en la prueba un resultado positivo. Este
principio tiene muchas de las propiedades de un inmunoensayo
ideal: es versátil, robusto, simple en su realización, emplea
reactivos económicos y consigue, mediante el uso de la fase
sólida, de una separación fácil entre la fracción retenida y la
fracción libre, por lo cual puede traer cosas muy bueno pero con
falta de especificidad.
56
Con base en lo analizado de cada una de las técnicas podemos
mostrar las diferencias:
59
TABLA 3. Ventajas y desventajas de las técnicas de identificación de
anticuerpos.
60
inexperto, se puede
automatizar, y puede
utilizarse como método de
"screening" con un número
limitado de diluciones
séricas. Además, permite
conocer la respuesta
inmunológica de las
diferentes clases de Ig.
61
reanalizar análisis hechos
con anterioridad.
- Posibilidad de cuantificar
las moléculas antigénicas
presentes en un grupo
celular.
INMUNOFLUORESCEN Anti Una ventaja de la IF es ser Las desventajas son su baja
CIA plaquetarios una técnica rápida, sensibilidad, que las
Anti reproducible, permite reacciones no son
leucocitarios tinciones dobles e incluso se permanentes y que es
Anti-HLA aplica en microscopia necesario fotografiar las
confocal. reacciones positivas para
documentar los casos.
Además, requiere
microscopio de
fluorescencia, que es un
instrumento de relativo alto
costo.
62
CONCLUSIONES
63
infección, hemorragia, esplenomegalia o CID que se caracteriza por
causar anticuerpos HLA y antiplaquetarios
66
6. RECOMENDACIÓN
67
7. REFERENCIAS
5. FRIEDBERG RC, DONNELLY SF, BOYD JC, GRAY LS, MINTZ PD.
1993.Clinical and blood bank factors in the management of platelet
refractoriness and alloimmunization. Blood. 81: 3428.
68
8. J SANS-SABRAFEN, C. BESSES RAEBEL, J. L. VIVES CORRONS.
2006. Hematología clínica. 5 edición. Elsevier. España.889 páginas.
69
15. Página de internet acerca de la citometría de
flujowww.citometriadeflujo.com.
70
22. VOLKER KIEFEL, CLAUDIA KÖNIG, HARTMUT KROLL, AND
SENTOT SANTOSO.2001. Platelet alloantibodies in transfused
patients. Transfusion, inmunohematology. Volúmen 21.pag 766-770.
71
10. ANEXOS
72
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By Richard C. Friedberg, Sarah F. Donnelly, James C. Boyd, Lloyd S . Gray, and Paul D. Mintz
Numerous independent and interdependent factors are in- with an increased or decreased CCI, w e found that no sin-
volved in the posttransfusion platelet response. Factors gle variable consistently explained the CCI variation across
such as AB0 match and platelet age are related to circum- the patient population. Each patient appeared sensitive to
stances potentially under the control of the blood bank one or a few particular factors, but because of marked in-
physician and therefore may permit circumvention by an traindividual variation, it was not possible to identify a
active transfusion service. On the other hand, factors such priori which factors were important for a given patient. The
as fever or sepsis may be unavoidable, being related more single exception was a solid-phase red blood cell adher-
t o the individual patient or clinical condition. To evaluate ence assay used t o cross-match platelets, but only for al-
which factors could be circumvented, w e prospectively loimmunized patients. We also evaluated the utility of re-
followed the 1-hour corrected count increments (CCls) for questing HLA-matched platelets from the local suppliers
962 single-donor apheresis platelet transfusions to 71 re- and maintained a clear distinction between platelets sim-
fractory hematologic oncology inpatients, with concomi- ply ordered as HLA matched and actually HLA-identical
tant recording of implicated factors. Stepwise regression platelets. Accounting for the confounding clinical-, pa-
analysis allowed for determination of which concurrent tient-, and blood bank-related factors, the cross-match as-
and confounding clinical-, patient-, and blood bank-related say was a better predictor of an adequate CCI than order-
factors significantly affected the CCls. Although many im- ing platelets as HLA matched.
plicated factors proved to be independently associated 0 1993 by The American Society of Hematology.
Sciences Center were followed prospectively for development of by the clinician, "HLA-matched" platelets were ordered through
refractoriness to platelet transfusions. Those patients with demon- the local blood supplier.
strated refractoriness requiring two or more platelet doses per day Platelet cross-matching. Cross-matching of donor platelets and
were evaluated thereafter for clinical-, blood bank-, and patient-re- patient plasma was performed with a solid-phase red blood cell
lated factors thought to influence the platelet increment following adherence (SPRCA) assay using Capture-P or Modified Capture-P
platelet transfusion. For the purposes of this study, refractoriness kits (Immucor Inc, Norcross, GA) according to the manufacturer's
was defined as repeated inadequate I -hour posttransfusion incre- directions. Platelets chosen for screening were typically ( I ) those
ments on successive days. Once identified as refractory, patients already in inventory and less than 2 days old or (2) stored samples
were evaluated for platelet alloimmunization twice weekly using a from local donors scheduled for donation. Pooled random-donor
solid-phase red blood cell adherence assay (SPRCA, Capture-P or platelets were not cross-matched. Patient blood samples were col-
Modified Capture-P Kits; Immucor Inc, Norcross, GA). Those pa- lected into yellow-top (ACD-A) vacutainer tubes, and the platelet-
tients with evidence of alloimmunization were thereafter given poor plasma isolated by centrifugation at 1,OOOg. Citrate was cho-
cross-match-compatible platelets when available regardless of AB0 sen as the anticoagulant to minimize heparin- and EDTA-mediated
mismatch. If no cross-match-compatible platelets were available platelet effects as well as to avoid assay artifacts of partial clotting.
for alloimmunized patients, platelets were issued according to Platelets selected for screening were bound to pretreated microplate
plasma compatibility, ie, avoiding transfusion of incompatible for- round-bottomed wells by centrifugation at 200g. Excess platelets
eign isohemagglutinins. If no plasma-compatible units were avail- were then washed away with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; pH
able, platelets were selected to avoid transfusion of incompatible 7.2). Patient plasma, in parallel with positive and negative controls,
high-titer isohemagglutinins. Aliquots ofthe product were later eval- was added to the microplate wells in the presence of low ionic
uated for cross-match compatibility. Nonalloimmunized patients strength enhancement medium. Antibodies directed against anti-
were issued platelets according to parallel criteria. gens on the immobilized (ie, well-bound) platelets adsorbed during
Platelet increments (CCls). The 1-hour posttransfusion the subsequent 30-minute incubation at 37°C. Excess plasma, un-
corrected count increment (CCI) was used to reflect the usefulness bound antibody, and enhancement medium were then washed
of the platelet transfusion by estimating the number of donor plate- away with PBS. Finally, indicator red blood cells (those with bound
lets surviving the initial redistribution phase after transfusion, nor- antihuman IgG) were added to the wells and the plate centrifuged at
malizing for dosage and volume effects. The formula is: I ,000g. The presence of platelet-directed IgG antibodies in patient
plasma was evident as a diffuse carpet of indicator red blood cells
(Posttransfusion - Pretransfusion Platelet Count) over the surface of the rounded well bottom. Conversely, the ab-
X (Body Surface Area) sence of platelet-directed IgG antibodies in patient plasma was evi-
CCI =
No. of Platelets Transfused dent as a red blood cell button at the bottom of the well. As per-
formed, the test is sensitive to human IgG class antibodies only, but
where the platelet counts are per microliter, body surface area is in it does not discriminate HLA-directed from platelet-specific anti-
square meters, and the number of platelets transfused is the number bodies. Naturally occurring and transfusion-stimulated AB0 isohe-
multiplied by IO". Units for the CCI are (platelets X mZ)/(pL X magglutinins were neutralized when necessary with soluble A and B
IO"); hereafter implied for the sake of clarity. A CCI of greater than substance (NeutrAB; Baxter Healthcare Co, Dade Division, Miami,
7,500 is generally considered to be an adequate posttransfusion re- FL). Because the procedure for identifying alloimmunization also
sponse. Patient platelet counts were determined on a Technicon defined cross-match status, alloimmunized patients were issued
H-1 analyzer (Technicon Inc, 'Tarrytown, NY). No data were re- platelets identified as cross-match compatible, cross-match incom-
corded if ( I ) the entire platelet dose was not given, (2) a clinically patible, or cross-match untested. In comparison, nonalloimmun-
significant transfusion reaction occurred (other than febrile nonhe- ized patients were given platelets identified only as either cross-
molytic reactions), (3) the platelets were washed or volume reduced, match compatible or cross-match untested because, by definition,
(4)posttransfusion platelet counts were not drawn within 90 min- there could be no cross-match incompatibility.
utes, or ( 5 ) the number of platelets transfused was not known. Patientfactors evaluated. Data were collected on patient factors
These restrictions affected less than 5% of all otherwise evaluable that were thought to influence platelet transfusion responses: al-
transfusions. loimmunization, bone marrow (BM) transplantation within the pre-
Platelets. Single-donor apheresis platelets were obtained from vious year, gender, circulating intravenous immunoglobulin, and
volunteer donors. Collections were on site at the University of Vir- transfusion number (Table I ). Alloimmunization was defined as
ginia Health Sciences Center Blood Bank, or obtained from the repeatable demonstration of non-neutralizable platelet-directed an-
local blood supplier (Mid-Atlantic [Tidewater] Region ofthe Ameri- tibodies against at least 2 of I O or more randomly chosen single-
can Red Cross [July 1990 to April 199 I ] or Virginia Blood Services donor apheresis platelet products. No patient developed platelet-
[April 1991 to December 19911). Random-donor platelet pools directed antibodies after the onset of refractoriness. Intravenous
were transfused only when appropriate single-donor apheresis prod- immunoglobulin was considered to be circulating ifthe most recent
ucts were not available. ABO-identical platelets were provided dose was within the previous month. Transfusion number was de-
when possible; if not, then maintenance of plasma compatibility fined as the total number of platelet transfusions received by the
was preferred. Group 0 platelets with high-titer (> 1 :200 at immedi-
ate spin) isohemagglutinins were not transfused to non-group 0
patients. When risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection was a con-
cern, CMV-seronegative products were issued. Most (90.7%) of the Table 1 . Patient Factors Evaluated
platelet products were leukocyte reduced (72.1% with either a Pall Patient Factor Clinical Blood Bank
PL-50 [Pall Biomedical Products Corp, Glencove, NY] or Sepacell
Alloimmunization Fever AB0 match
PL-5 [Baxter Healthcare Corp, Fenwal Division, Deerfield, IL]
Bone marrow transplant Sepsis Platelet storage time
third-generation leukoreduction filter and 18.6% with the Cutter
Gender Splenomegaly SPRCA cross-match
Leukotrap system). No patient was switched to or from leukore-
Circulating lVlg Clinical bleeding HLA-match grade
duced units after the onset of refractoriness. Platelets were counted
Transfusion no. RBC use No. of HLA mismatches
on day 0 at the collection center and thereafter stored at 22°C under
DIC No. of CREG mismatches
constant horizontal agitation. Platelet HLA type and cross-reactive
Neutropenia
groups (CREGs) were recorded when available.'s When requested
From www.bloodjournal.org by on May 3, 2009. For personal use only.
3430 FRIEDBERG ET AL
patient up to and including the transfusion in question. Because platelets depended in part on the patient’s alloimmuniza-
patients were evaluated only on development of refractoriness, all tion status, patients were grouped into two categories based
patients had received previous red blood cell and platelet transfu- on that status for the purpose of data analysis. Of these, 36
sions by the time of evaluation. No patient had received any granu- patients with 695 transfusions ( 1 8 of 23 alloimmunized pa-
locyte transfusions. To control for individual variation, the pa- tients with 368 of 399 transfusions and 18 of 48 nonalloim-
tient’s name was included in all statistical analyses as a patient munized patients with 327 of 563 transfusions) had suffi-
factor.
Clinical factors evaluated. Data were collected daily on seven cient data for an individual regression model (P < .05). For
clinical factors thought to influence platelet transfusion responses: all patients and all transfusions, the median CCI was 5,000,
fever, sepsis, splenomegaly,bleeding defined clinically,bleeding de- range 0 to 33,400, mean 6,210, with a n S D of 5,620, an SE
fined by transfusion frequency,disseminated intravascularcoagula- of 18 1; 50.2% of transfusions had a CCI of less than 5,000
tion (DIC),and neutropenia (Table I). Fever was defined as an oral and 37.5% greater than 7,500 (Table 2). A profile ofpatients
temperature greater than 38°C at any point between initiation of and diseases is given in Table 3.
the transfusion and the posttransfusion platelet count. Sepsis was For all factors evaluated, stepwise regression analysis al-
defined as a positive blood culture within 3 days preceding transfu- lowed for determination of the correlation of each individ-
sion. Splenomegaly was defined as a palpable spleen. Bleeding was ual factor with the posttransfusion platelet increment (Ta-
defined in two different ways: (1) as overt external bleeding from
bles 4 and 5). The regression model evaluated the factors for
any source (clinical bleeding) and (2) as low (11) or high (22) red
blood cells used as determined by the total number of red blood cell a significant independent role in the posttransfusion incre-
units transfused the day before, day of, and day after platelet trans- ments of a particular patient if data were available both in
fusion (red blood cell use). DIC was defined as an elevated D-dimer the presence and absence of that factor. Significant factors
titer and fibrin degradation product (FDP) levels concomitant with are denoted as either positive (POS) or negative (NEG) ef-
a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Neutro- fectors. A positive effector was significantly associated with
penia was defined as an absolute neutrophil count of less than 1 X a greater posttransfusion platelet increment. Conversely, a
109/L.The presence or absence of each of these factors was deter- negative effector for a given patient was significantly asso-
mined and recorded daily. The effects of disease progression and ciated with a lesser posttransfusion platelet increment. Fac-
hospital course were determined by including the number ofevalu-
tors that were evaluable but were found to be not significant
able previous platelet transfusions received by each patient.
Blood bank factors evaluated. Data were collected on blood are denoted as “ns.” Factors that were not evaluable for a
bank factors thought to influence platelet transfusion responses: given patient are left blank.
AB0 match, platelet storage duration, SPRCA cross-match result, Patient factors. Of the patient factors evaluated (Tables
and HLA match grade (Table I). A B 0 types of the patient and 4 and 5), only circulating intravenous immunoglobulin
platelet product were recorded and grouped according to the AB0 (IVlg) changed within a n individual patient and therefore
mismatch (major, minor, both, or none). The degree of HLA mis- could allow intraindividual stepwise regression analysis.
match was evaluated two different ways. First, by the HLA match IVIg did not become an independent predictor of posttrans-
grade (A: four of four match; BIU: three HLA matches but one fusion response for any of the six patients (four alloimmu-
HLA antigen unknown; B 1 X: one HLA mismatch but cross-reac-
nized) not initially receiving IVIg but who were treated with
tive; B2X: two HLA mismatches but both cross-reactive;B2U: two
HLA matches, two HLA antigens unknown; B2UX: one HLA mis- IVIg later on during the course of this study. Although BM
match but cross-reactive, one HLA antigen unknown; C all transplant recipients, nonalloimmunized females, and al-
others). For the purposes ofcalculations, A, B IU, and B2U matches loimmunized IVIg recipients generally had greater post-
comprised one group, all BX matches a second group, and all C transfusion increments, these differences are not statisti-
matches a third group. Second, the number of foreign HLA anti- cally significant because individual variation could account
gens and foreign cross-reactivegroup (CREG)antigens in the trans- for the demonstrated differences. In contrast, 13 patients
fused product were also recorded when available. were sensitive to the total number of preceding platelet
Statistical methods. The statistical significance of the influence transfusions; eight negatively and five positively.
of various factors (clinical-, blood bank-, and patient-related) on
interpatient variation in the platelet increments was first evaluated
Clinicalfactors. Of all the clinical factors evaluated (Ta-
by analysis of variance (ANOVA)using a repeated measures, main- bles 4 and 5), fever, bleeding, neutropenia, DIC, and sepsis
effects model. Marked interindividual variation precluded determi- were each identified in at least one patient as a significant
nation of relative contributions due to factors that did not change independent predictor of posttransfusion platelet incre-
during the period of evaluation for an individual patient. The gen- ments. Splenomegaly was the only clinical factor not to be
eral linear model (GLM) program of the SAS package (SAS Insti- independently identified as a significant predictor because
tute, Cary, NC) was used for these ANOVA studies. Because the in no patient did the condition wax or wane to allow for
platelet increment appeared to have such a strong individual basis intraindividual analysis. Fever, bleeding, and neutropenia
in each patient, further studies were performed using a stepwise were usually, but not always, associated with lesser post-
regression model to analyze the platelet increment data for each
patient. Significant (P< .05) explanatory variables were tallied for transfusion increments. Although fever was a negative ef-
each patient in whom a regression model was found that explained fector for four patients, three other patients generally had
a significant(P< .05) portion of the variation in platelet increment. greater posttransfusion increments while febrile (ie, positive
The stepwise regression (REG) procedure of the SAS package with effector). Bleeding defined clinically was a significant pre-
the MINR forward selection scheme was used for these studies.16 dictor for seven individuals; in five of these as a negative
effector. In contrast, bleeding defined by red blood cell use
RESULTS within the 3-day period centered on the platelet transfusion
A total of 962 single-donor platelet transfusions to 71 was a significant effector in four patients. In n o patient were
patients were evaluated in this study. Because selection of both definitions of bleeding significant. Neutropenia was a
From www.bloodjournal.org by on May 3, 2009. For personal use only.
significant predictor in six patients; in five of these as a SPRCA cross-match was not an independent predictor for
negative effector. Although DIC (two patients) and sepsis five other alloimmunized patients. Of the seven ABO-sensi-
(three patients) were identified as significant independent tive patients, five generally had greater increments with
predictors in fewer patients, these factors were always asso- ABO-identical platelets; one with major ABO-mismatched
ciated with lesser increments (negative effector). and one with minor ABO-mismatched platelets. Twenty-
Blood bankfactors. Of the blood bank factors evaluated two other patients were not apparently sensitive to the AB0
(Tables 4 through 6), the SPRCA cross-match,ABO-match, match. Ten patients appeared sensitive to the age of the
and platelet storage duration independently influenced the platelet products; for seven of those patients, increasing
posttransfusion increments in at least one patient each. The storage time was a negative effector in the transfusion out-
HLA match grade, number of foreign HLA antigens, and come.
number of foreign CREG antigens did not independently Seven ofthe alloimmunized patients received a total of 44
influence the posttransfusion increments for any patients; single-donor apheresis platelets that were ordered as HLA
that is, the variability in posttransfusion increments was not matched (hereafter referred to as HLA ordered, which, con-
further explained by the extent of HLA similarity. As per- trary to widespread belief, does not necessarily imply “HLA
formed, the SPRCA cross-match assay allowed one technol- matched” or “HLA identical”) from the blood supplier (Ta-
ogist to screen 10 to 50 single-donor apheresis platelet units ble 7). These same patients also received 158 other single-
before transfusion. Throughout hospitalization, patients donor apheresis platelets from general inventory (ie, rou-
typically remained compatible with the same donors. In 10 tinely ordered). All HLA-ordered single-donor apheresis
of the 11 alloimmunized patients for whom the SPRCA units were cross-matched whenever possible, just as with
cross-match was an independent predictor of posttransfu- other single-donor apheresis platelets. Consistent with the
sion increment, cross-match-compatible platelets routinely above findings regarding the utility of the SPRCA cross-
led to greater increments than did either cross-match-in- match, cross-match-compatible HLA-ordered platelets
compatible or cross-match-untested platelets. For these pa- provided posttransfusion responses similar to those of rou-
tients, increments from cross-match-incompatible platelets tinely ordered cross-match-compatible platelets. In con-
were indistinguishable from those following cross-match- trast, cross-match-incompatible or cross-match-untested
untested platelets (data not shown). On the other hand, the HLA-ordered platelets provided poor posttransfusion incre-
ments similar to analogous routinely ordered platelets. Of
note is that 39% ( 1 5 of 38) of platelets ordered as HLA
Table 3. Patient Diagnoses matched were incompatible by SPRCA cross-match and
that none of those I5 transfusions resulted in an adequate
Diagnosis No. of Patients No. of Transfusions
increment (median CCI = 0). Ofthe six HLA-ordered plate-
Leukemia lets not evaluated by SPRCA cross-match, only one yielded
Chronic myelogenous 9 196
an adequate posttransfusion increment (median CCI =
Chronic lymphocytic 3 22
25 408
2,750). In contrast, almost halfofthe 23 HLA-ordered plate-
Acute myelogenous
Acute lymphocytic 7 91
lets that were cross-match compatible resulted in adequate
Lymphoma increments (median CCI = 6,500).
Non-Hodgkin’s 11 91
DISCUSSION
Hodgkin’s 2 24
Solid tumors Because all patients were shown to be refractory to plate-
Breast carcinoma 13 let transfusions, criteria thought to be responsible for the
Lung carcinoma 3 refractoriness were followed and evaluated for significant
Neuroblastoma 14 independent effects on posttransfusion increments. Only
Ovarian carcinoma 3
those factors that waxed and waned in a given patient could
Other
be evaluated for their role in refractoriness. The goal of this
Myelodysplastic syndrome 45
Fanconi‘s anemia 27
study was to identify clinical, patient, and blood bank fac-
Aplastic anemia 19 tors that are significant predictors of posttransfusion plate-
Myelofibrosis 2 let increments, and in particular to identify those factors
Waldenstram’s disease 4 that could be readily circumvented. To identify these fac-
tors, all transfusions were evaluated in terms of the 1-hour
Totals 71 962
CCI. Theoretically, viable platelets should survive the initial
From www.bloodjournal.org by on May 3, 2009. For personal use only.
3432 FRIEDBERG ET AL
Patient Marrow Transfusion Overall Clinical Neutro- RBC Cross- AB0 Storage
No. Gender Diagnosis Transplant No. N PValue Fever Bleeding penia DIC Sepsis Use Match Match Time
posttransfusionhour and the more platelets that survive the gender, and circulating lVIg did not emerge as independent
initial hour after transfusion, the more platelets are avail- predictors o f posttransfusion increment. In contrast, fever,
able to assist in hemostasis. bleeding, neutropenia, sepsis, and transfusion number each
Patient factors such as recent BM transplantation, emerged as an independent predictor in at least one patient,
Patient Marrow Transfusion Overall Clinical Neutro- RBC Cross- AB0 Storage
No. Gender Diagnosis Transplant No. N PValue Fever Bleeding penia DIC Sepsis Use Match Match Time
Table 6. CCI and HLA Grade HLA matched. These findings agree with the data of O’Con-
A and BU BX C ne11 et al, who showed that platelet cross-matching can suc-
cessfully select donors that would not have been selected on
Mean 7.400 7.700 6,400
Median 6,500 8,000 5.400
the basis of HLA type.” These results are likely the conse-
CCI c 5,000 38.3% 37.5% 47.3% quence of many factors. First of all, for platelet orders, HLA
CCI 2 7,500 48.9% 50.0% 38.5% matched is not the same as HLA identical. Platelets ordered
No. Patients 9 15 41 as HLA matched are typically the closest match obtainable
No. Transfusions 47 48 455 within the constraints of time and donor availability. Sec-
ond, achieving a greater number of HLA matches is proba-
bly not as important as avoiding those particular mis-
matches against which the recipient has already been
often but not always as a negative effector. These findings ’*
sensitized. Unlike AB0 isohemagglutinins, HLA-directed
are in general agreement with those of others.’ However, the antibodies are not “naturally occurring.” Patients with
variation from person to person was such that it was not HLA-directed antibodies as the mediator of platelet alloim-
possible to predict a priori which factors would be signifi- munization typically have antibodies directed against spe-
cant for a given patient. Curiously, frequently cited negative cific and/or cross-reacting HLA epitopes. Avoiding those
factors such as fever and sepsis were not always negative or particular epitopes would bypass the mediators of alloim-
even independent effectors. Perhaps the underlying reason munization in a particular recipient more efficiently than
for the fever or sepsis is more important to the posttransfu- matching for all self-antigens. Indeed, at least 20% (grade A
sion platelet increment than the fever itself. We found no matches) to 40% (BU matches) of HLA-matched platelet
single variable that appeared to explain the variation in the units fail to provide adequate posttransfusion increments.”
platelet increments across patients. In fact, when included Finally, the SPRCA cross-match assay as performed is sen-
as a factor in a regression model encompassing all patients, sitive to all IgG antibodies that adsorb onto target platelets
the patient name was identified as most significant of all by the Fab moiety.
factors. Evidently, no single clinically evident factor is a Other techniques have been used to cross-match platelets
reliable predictor of posttransfusion increment in an unfa- by identifyingHLA-directed antibodies, including the plate-
miliar patient; each individual patient is sensitive to specific let immunofluorescencetest (PIFT), platelet enzyme-linked
clinical factors that cannot necessarily be identified before- immunosorbent assay (P-ELISA), platelet radioimmunoas-
hand. say (P-RIA), immunobead assay, and platelet radioactive
The blood bank factors significantly affecting posttrans- antiglobulin test (RAGT).’8,2G24 These methods are gener-
fusion increments with individual patients were the SPRCA ally more labor intensive, require special handling, and may
cross-match, AB0 compatibility, and platelet storage dura- not identify antibodies directed against antigens other than
tion. The HLA-match grade and the number of HLA and HLA class I. In addition, most of the effectiveness studies
CREG mismatches did not independently affect the CCI in were performed with pooled random donor platelets and
any of these multiply transfused patients. Most alloimmu- did not account for clinical and patient variables. The
nized patients for whom effectors could be identified were SPRCA cross-match method does not inherently discrimi-
sensitive to cross-match results. By definition, nonalloim- nate HLA directed from platelet-specificantibodies, both of
munized patients could not receive cross-match-incompati- which may mediate platelet alloimmuni~ation.~*”~~~ In con-
ble platelets, and therefore the cross-match could not be trast to commercial lymphocytotoxic antibody panels, the
used as a predictor in the patient population without cross- SPRCA assay does not require antibodies to fix rabbit com-
match-demonstrable antiplatelet antibodies. Some patients plement and to recognize serologically related (though per-
were markedly sensitive to the AB0 match, whereas others haps distinct) antigens on third-party neoplastic lympho-
were sensitive to the storage time. Owing to the design of the cytes. Moreover, this method allows for a direct test of the
study, we were unable to evaluate the negative effects of unique combination of patient plasma and specific donor
repeated AB0 mismatch as reported by others4 Similarly, platelets for antibody-antigen interaction.
we cannot comment on the role, if any, ofleukoreduction in A recent multisite clinical study compared HLA-match-
modulating the onset of alloimmunization. With the singu- ing with prospective cross-matchingin the selection of plate-
lar exception of the SPRCA cross-match for most alloim- lets for refractory patients.26 A paired set of one HLA-
munized patients, determination of which patients are sen- matched and one cross-match-compatible single-donor
sitive to which blood bank factors cannot be accomplished a
priori. As with the clinical factors, individual patient varia-
tion accounts for the majority of the posttransfusion platelet Table 7. Patients Receiving Platelets Ordered as HLA Matched
increment. SPRCA No. Median CCI
No additional benefit beyond that provided by the Cross-Match Transfusions CCI k7.500 (%)
SPRCA cross-match was apparent from the use of platelets Orders as HLA Compatible 23 6,500 48
ordered from the blood supplier as HLA matched. All pa- matched Incompatible 15 0 0
tients who received HLA-ordered platelets also received rou- Not done 6 2,750 17
tinely ordered platelets. The cross-match results had a Routine Compatible 87 7,600 52
greater bearing on the posttransfusion increments than Incompatible 36 950 0
Not done 35 0 3
whether the platelets were routinely ordered or requested as
From www.bloodjournal.org by on May 3, 2009. For personal use only.
3434 FRIEDBERG ET AL
platelet dose were selected for 73 refractory patients without 9. Murphy MF, Metcalfe P, Ord J, Lister TA, Waters AH: Disap-
confounding concurrent nonimmune factors. Cross-match- pearance of HLA and platelet-specific antibodies in acute leukemia
ing was performed by one of four different procedures. This patients alloimmunized by multiple transfusions. Br J Haematol
group found grade A and BU HLA matches to be optimum, 67:255, 1987
with cross-match-compatible platelets acceptable; either 10. Dutcher JP, Schiffer CA, Aisner J, Wiernik PH: Long term
followup of patients with leukemia receiving platelet transfusions.
was superior to any other grade of HLA match or selective
Identification of a large group of patients who do not become al-
mismatching of HLA or CREG types. Curiously, they noted loimmunized. Blood 58: 1007, 198l
substantial variation in the second response among the 35 1 1. Howard JE, Perkins HA: The natural history of alloimmuni-
patients with repeated sets of platelet transfusions (only 50% zation to platelets. Transfusion 18:496, I978
to 57% concordance). Our data are in general agreement, 12. Dausset J, Rapaport IT:Transplantation antigen activity of
although our greater number of transfusions allowed for human blood platelets. Transplantation 4: 182, 1966
inclusion of confounding clinical and patient variables and 13. MacPherson BR, Hammond PB, Maniscalco CA: Alloim-
subsequent mathematical analysis of which clinical factors munization to public HLA antigens in multi-transfused platelet
are indeed repeatedly significant and which blood bank fac- recipients. Ann Clin Lab Sci 16:38, 1986
tors can be circumvented. 14. Petz LD: Platelet crossmatching. Am J Clin Pathol 90:114,
1988 (editorial)
With a greater number of transfusions to more patients,
15. Rodey GE: Class I antigens: HLA-A, -B, -C and cross-reac-
our data extend the results of previous cross-match studies tive groups, in Moulds JM, Fawcett KJ, Garner RJ (eds): Scientific
to account for single-donor apheresis platelets as well as and Technical Aspects of the Major Histocompatibility Complex.
confounding variations in clinical and patient f a ~ t o r s . ' ~ ~ ' ~Arlington,
, ~ ~ VA, American Association of Blood Banks, 1989, p 23
Based on the results from this study, taking into account the 16. SAS Institute, Inc: SAS Users Guide: Statistics, Release 6.03
various clinical, patient, and blood bank factors that can Edition. Cary, NC, SAS Institute, 1988
affect posttransfusion increments, most patients are suscep- 17. O'Connell BA, Lee ES, Rothko K, Schiffer CA: Selection of
tible to one or more particular factors affecting posttransfu- histocompatible apheresis platelet donors by crossmatching ran-
sion platelet increments that cannot necessarily be identi- dom donor platelet concentrates. Blood 79:527, 1992
fied beforehand. Moreover, many well-known factors 18. Kickler TS, Ness PM, Braine HG: Platelet crossmatching. A
associated with diminished posttransfusion increments are direct approach to the selection of platelet transfusions for the al-
loimmunized thrombocytopenic patient. Am J Clin Pathol 90:69,
not necessarily purely negative or positive effectors. How- 1988
ever, for patients with cross-match-demonstrable antiplate- 19. Kickler TS, Braine H, Ness PM: The predictive value of
let antibodies, the SPRCA cross-match assay does appear to crossmatching platelet transfusion for alloimmunized patients.
select for a particular single-donor apheresis platelet prod- Transfusion 25:385, 1985
uct likely to yield an increased posttransfusion increment. 20. Millard FE, Tani P, McMillan R: A specific assay for anti-
HLA antibodies: Application to platelet donor selection. Blood
REFERENCES 70:1495, 1987
1. McFarland JG, Anderson AJ, Slichter SJ: Factors influencing 2 I. McGrath K, Holdsworth R, Veale M, Bishop J, Wolf M:
the transfusion response to HLA-selected apheresis donor platelets Detection of HLA antibodies by platelet crossmatching techniques.
in patients refractory to random platelet concentrates. Br J Haema- Transfusion 28:214, 1988
to1 73:380, 1989 22. OConnell BA, Schiffer CA: Donor selection for alloimmu-
2. Klingemann HG, Self S, Banaji M, Deeg HJ, Doney K, nized patients by platelet crossmatching of random-donor platelet
Slichter SJ, Thomas ED, Storb R: Refractoriness to random donor concentrates. Transfusion 30:3 14, 1990
platelet transfusions in patients with aplastic anemia: A multivari- 23. Heal JM, Blumberg N, Masel D: An evaluation of cross-
ate analysis of data from 264 cases. Br J Haematol 66: 1 15, 1987 matching, HLA, and AB0 matching transfusions to refractory pa-
3. Lazarus HM, Herzig RH, Warm WE, Fishman DJ: Transfu- tients. Blood 70:23, 1987
sion experience with platelet concentrates stored for 24 to 72 hours 24. Brubaker DB, Duke JC, Romine M: Predictive value of en-
at 22°C. Importance of storage time. Transfusion 22:39, 1982 zyme-linked immunoassay platelet crossmatching for transfusion
4. Lee EJ, Schiffer CA: AB0 compatibility can influence the of platelet concentrates to alloimmunized recipients. Am J Hema-
results of platelet transfusion. Transfusion 29:384, 1989 to1 24:375, 1987
5 . Brand A, Sintnicolaas K, Claas FH,Eernisse JG: ABH anti- 25. Brubaker DB, Romine M: Relationship of HLA and plate-
bodies causing platelet transfusion refractoriness. Transfusion let-reactive antibodies in alloimmunized patients refractory to plate-
26:463, 1986 let therapy. Am J Hematol 26:341, 1987
6 . Bishop JF, McGrath K, Wolf MM, Matthews JP, DeLuise T, 26. Moroff G, Garratty G, Heal JM, MacPherson BR, Stroncek
Holdsworth R, Yuen K, Veale M, Whiteside MG, Cooper IA, Szer D, Huang ST, Ho W, Petz LD, Leach MF, Lennon SS, Rowe JM,
J: Clinical factors influencing the efficacy of pooled platelet transfu- Saleh MN, Arndt P, Foley K, Masel D, Postoway N: Selection of
sions. Blood 71:383, 1988 platelets for refractory patients by HLA matching and prospective
7. Brubaker DB: Refractoriness to platelet transfusions: Am J crossmatching. Transfusion 32:633, 1992
Clin Pathol 9 1500, 1989 27. Rachel JM, Summers TC, Sinor LT, Plapp FV: Use of a solid
8. Welch HG, Larson EB, Slichter SJ: Providing platelets for phase red blood cell adherence method for pretransfusion platelet
refractory patients. Prudent strategies. Transfusion 29: 193, I989 compatibility testing. Am J Clin Pathol 90:63, 1988
I M M U N O H E M AT O L O G Y
Nathalie Hézard, Gérard Simon, Catherine Macé, Vincent Jallu, Cécile Kaplan, and Philippe Nguyen
I
mmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an
BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of immune thrombocy- acquired disorder, in which accelerated platelet
topenic purpura (ITP) is a diagnosis of exclusion, as (PLT) consumption is due to PLT autoantibodies.
stated by international guidelines. Nevertheless, the ITP is classified as “primary” or “idiopathic” when
assessment of platelet (PLT) antibodies has been occurring without any underlying disease or considered
reported as helpful for the diagnosis and the follow-up as “secondary” when associated with various dysimmune
of ITP patients. PLT antibodies are detected by highly disorders, such as systemic lupus erythematosus or lym-
specialized assays, such as monoclonal antibody– phoproliferative diseases. According to the American
specific immobilization of PLT antigen (MAIPA) test. Society of Hematology (ASH) guidelines, “the diagnosis is
Flow cytometry for PLT-associated immunoglobulin G based principally on the history, physical examination,
(PAIgG) detection has been described more recently. complete blood count, and examination of the peripheral
This study was meant to evaluate the utility of flow smear, which should exclude other causes of thrombocy-
cytometry to screen accurately patients needing further topenia” and not on the detection of PLT autoantibodies.1
MAIPA testing. More recent publications suggest that laboratory tests
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: PAIgG, PAIgM, and could be incorporated in current guidelines.2,3 Two differ-
PAIgA were determined in 107 consecutive patients and ent types of techniques are currently used: the detection
in 147 healthy controls in parallel. MAIPA testing was of PLT-associated immunoglobulins (PAIg) and the detec-
performed in all patients. The accuracy of flow cytom- tion and characterization of specific PLT antibodies. The
etry was assessed with a receiver operating character- detection of PAIg cannot differentiate between antibodies
istics (ROC) curve analysis versus MAIPA. specifically raised against PLT glycoproteins and non–PLT-
RESULTS: MAIPA assay found PLT-specific IgG in 27 specific antibodies. In the past few years, the use of flow
patients (25%). The ROC curve analysis showed that cytometry to screen PAIg has been assessed with conflict-
no false-negative result in flow cytometry was obtained ing reports.4-8 These studies compared flow cytometry
for a mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) cutoff of 0.2. with the clinical probability of ITP diagnosis. In this
With this cutoff, PAIgG were positive in 61 patients context, we evaluated the performance of flow cytometry
(57%). In this series, MAIPA was unnecessary in to screen PAIgG. For this, the flow cytometric assay
42 percent of patients (corresponding to true-negative was compared with monoclonal antibody–specific immo-
results). When MAIPA was positive, PAIgM values bilization of PLT antigen (MAIPA) in 107 consecutive
ranged from 0.1 to 1.0, and PAIgA from 0.1 to 2.
CONCLUSION: Flow cytometry for PAIgG assessment
may be used to accurately decide whether or not
ABBREVIATIONS: ITP = immune thrombocytopenic purpura;
MAIPA must be subsequently performed. In this series,
MAIPA = monoclonal antibody–specific immobilization of
MAIPA was unnecessary in 42 percent of patients.
platelet antigen; PAIg = platelet-associated immunoglobulins;
Moreover, PAIgM results suggested that its determina-
ROC = receiver operating characteristics.
tion combined with PAIgG may be of interest in ITP
investigation. From the Laboratoire d’Hématologie, CHU Robert Debré,
Reims; and the Institut National de Transfusion Sanguine, Paris,
France.
Address reprint requests to: Pr Philippe Nguyen, MD, PhD,
Laboratoire d’Hématologie, CHU Robert Debré, 51092 Reims
Cédex, France; e-mail: pnguyen@chu-reims.fr.
Received for publication July 16, 2007; revision received
September 4, 2007, and accepted September 5, 2007.
doi: 10.1111/j.1537-2995.2007.01556.x.
TRANSFUSION 2008;48:513-518.
patients. The performance of flow cytometry was analyzed currently run in parallel samples obtained from at least
with a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. To one healthy volunteer. For this, informed consent was
use flow cytometry as a screening test, we calculated the obtained according to our institutional ethics require-
cutoff allowing a 100 percent sensitivity. ments. The assay was completed within 2 hours after
withdrawal in a single laboratory (CHU Reims).
A direct immunofluorescence assay, adapted from
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Rosenfeld and coworkers5 was used. For this, whole blood
Patients was centrifuged at 150 ¥ g for 10 minutes to obtain a PLT-
We investigated 107 consecutive adults (47 males, 60 rich plasma sample, which was transferred in a polypro-
females) from January 2003 to January 2007. They were pylene tube. A PLT pellet was obtained by centrifuging the
referred by senior hematologists of an academic hospital. PLT-rich plasma at 2300 ¥ g for 5 minutes and then resus-
According to the current guidelines, patients had primary pended in ammonium oxalate (1%) for red cell lysis. After
ITP (n = 73), secondary ITP (n = 14, including lymphopro- centrifugation at 1100 ¥ g for 5 minutes to discard super-
liferative disorders, antiphospholipid syndromes, sys- natant, the pellet was washed twice in phosphate-
temic lupus erythematosus, hemorrhagic rectocolitis, buffered saline (PBS) containing EDTA (0.009 mol/L
rheumatoid polyarthritis, one Felty syndrome), or unex- Na2EDTA, 0.0264 mol/L Na2HPO4, 0.07 mol/L NaCl) and
plained isolated thrombocytopenia (n = 20, correspond- resuspended at the concentration of 5 ¥ 106 PLTs per mL in
ing to miscellaneous diseases, i.e., hepatitis virus PBS-EDTA buffer.
infection, liver cirrhosis, hyperthyrosis, Biermer disease, Antibodies were purchased from Tebu (Le Perray en
myelodysplastic syndrome, myeloproliferative syndrome, Yvelines, France). A volume of 100 mL of PLT suspension
Marfan syndrome). We obtained informed consent from was incubated in a polypropylene tube coated with 5
all patients, and the study met all institutional ethics percent bovine serum albumin for 30 minutes with 10 mL
requirements. Baseline characteristics of patients are pre- of the appropriate dilution of fluorescein isothiocyanate–
sented in Table 1. conjugated antibodies (the saturating concentration of
each antibody was previously determined by serial dilu-
tion studies): goat F(ab′)2 anti-human IgG (Fcg fragment
MAIPA specific) antibody was used at a 1-in-15 dilution, goat
Ten milliliters of whole blood was collected into ethylene- F(ab′)2 anti-human IgM (Fcm fragment specific) antibody
diaminetetraacetate (EDTA). The identification of PLT was used at a 1-in-10 dilution, and goat F(ab′)2 anti-
antigen–specific antibodies was performed in one refer- human IgA (Fca fragment specific) antibody was used at
ence laboratory (Institut National de Transfusion Sanguine a 1-in-20 dilution. PLT suspension was then washed with
[INTS], Paris, France), with the gold standard assay PBS-EDTA buffer. Pellet was resuspended in 500 mL of
MAIPA.9-11 Monoclonal antibodies were Gi9 (Immunotech, PBS-EDTA buffer and immediately analyzed on a flow
Marseille, France), P11-64 and P12-46 (Dr Kaplan, INTS, cytometer (EPICS XL, Beckman Coulter, Paris, France).
Paris, France), and GR-P (Dr Garrido, Granada, Spain), Excitation and emission wavelengths were 488 and
respectively, raised against GPIa, GPIIbIIIa, and GPIbIX. 525 nm, respectively. PLT population was gated with PLT
The secondary antibody was a goat peroxidase–conjugated forward and side scatter characteristics. Acquisition and
anti-human IgG Fcg fragment specific (Jackson Immu- processing data from 10,000 PLTs were performed and
noResearch Laboratories, Suffolk, UK). Results were inter- analyzed with computer software (Expo 32, Beckman
preted blindly of the presumed clinical diagnosis. Coulter). We analyzed the mean fluorescence intensity
(MFI), obtained for the whole PLT population, including
the events in the first channel.
Flow cytometric assay for PAIg detection
Five milliliters of whole blood was collected on EDTA. In
Statistical analysis
our laboratory, for any PLT flow cytometric analysis, we
The Shapiro-Wilk test showed that flow cytometric data
were not normally distributed. Results are expressed
TABLE 1. Characteristics of studied patients as median (interquartile range). The diagnostic value
Patients Number of flow cytometry for PAIgG assessment was evaluated
Males/females 47/60
with a ROC curve analysis. The ROC curve analysis
Age (years), mean ⫾ SD 47 ⫾ 22
Referring department consists of constructing a graph that correlates true and
Hematology 78 false-positive rates (sensitivity and 1 minus specificity,
Internal medicine 29
respectively) for a series of cutoff points for the assay
Isolated thrombocytopenia (<50 109/L) 28
Associated autoimmune disease (>50 109/L) 79 under evaluation, versus the reference test. The graph is
used to decide the optimum cutoff point according to the
MAIPA
MAIPA analysis was positive in 27 patients (25%), negative
in 78 patients (73%), and not determined in 2 cases
A
Fig. 1. Representative histograms obtained from a patient presenting with primary ITP (B). A sample from a healthy volunteer is
systematically run in parallel (A). With PLT-rich plasma, the gate of PLTs is drawn in the forward scatter (FS)/side scatter (SS) histo-
gram (top). The mean of fluorescence for each isotype is obtained with a cursor set on the four decades, including the first channel,
corresponding to the whole PLT population.
Fig. 1. Continued
because of a low PLT count (19 ¥ 109 and 11 ¥ 109/L). In controls, MFI values were 0.2 (0.2-0.2) for each
Details of the IgG specificity are reported in Table 2. isotype (PAIgG, PAIgM, and PAIgA) and ranged from 0.1 to
MAIPA was positive in 29 percent in “primary” ITP (21/ 0.5 for PAIgG, 0.1 to 1.7 for PAIgM, and 0.1 to 0.5 for PAIgA.
73), in 28 percent in “secondary” ITP (4/14), and in The distribution of MFI values is reported in Fig. 2.
10 percent in the other cases (2/20).
With this cutoff, the specificity was 58 percent, and the second-line treatment for whom a third-line treatment is
positive predictive value was 45 percent. considered.1,13 Moreover, several authors also state that
antibody testing is helpful for positive diagnosis (rather
than to make only a diagnostic of exclusion) and may be
DISCUSSION used in the follow-up of patients to determine immune
Although the ASH guidelines stated in 1996 that PLT- remission or a worsening outcome in ITP.2,3,14 It has also
associated IgG assay was unnecessary and inappropriate been reported that PLT antibodies are associated with PLT
in both adults and children ITP patients, the British guide- dysfunction in some cases.15 In our daily practice, the
lines considered in 2003 that the investigation of PLT demand on physicians for PLT antibody testing is high.
autoantibodies may be of value in adult ITP patients in This prompted us to develop a strategy to investigate
particular clinical settings, that is, combination of marrow patients presenting with a presumed diagnosis of ITP.
failure and ITP or ITP patients refractory to first- and Because of the frequency of the cases, we evaluated flow
cytometry as a first-line assay. Because this technique is
fast and easy to handle, it is a good candidate for a screen-
6 ing test. An ROC curve analysis was therefore used to
evaluate the negative predictive value of the assay (a 100%
5 sensitivity being a prerequisite in a screening strategy).
The ROC curve analysis showed that an MFI cutoff of 0.2
4 permitted no false-positive result with the highest speci-
ficity (57%). Our results showed that 42 percent of MAIPA
MFI
60 (25%) (31%)
tivity is low and this explains the poor
40 -
FN TN specificity of the test. The approach is
n=0 n=45 safe because no positive cases were
(42%)
20 missed. It is also time- and cost-effective,
because MAIPA was unnecessary in
0 40 percent of the referred patients. In our
0 20 40 60 80 100
100-specificity
country, this appears as a major advan-
tage because flow cytometry is currently
Fig. 3. ROC curve and contingency table: flow cytometric PAIgG determination available in academic laboratories,
versus MAIPA. For a 100 percent sensitivity, the best specificity (57%) was obtained whereas MAIPA is restricted to a few ref-
for an MFI cutoff of 0.2 (A). True negative (TN) indicates that specific PLT testing by erences laboratories.
MAIPA should be unnecessary in 40 percent of patients (B). TP = true-positive value; Our study raises the question
FP = false-positive value; FN = false-negative value. whether specific IgM and IgA should be
systematically searched in specific MAIPA assays. Indeed, 5. Rosenfeld GS, Nichols G, Bodensteiner DC. Flow cytomet-
we observed high values of PAIgM and/or PAIgA in asso- ric measurement of antiplatelet antibodies. Am J Clin
ciation with PAIgG. In some patients, high levels of PAIgM Pathol 1987;87:518-22.
were found alone. These findings are in agreement with 6. Romero-Guzman LT, Lopez-Karpovitch X, Paredes R,
previous reported data that highlight the fact that IgM and Barrales-Benitez O, Piedras J. Detection of platelet-
IgA are frequently associated with IgG or even present assoiated immunoglobulins by flow cytometry for the diag-
alone for IgM.5,6,16 In a study with an ELISA method for nosis of immune thrombocytopenia: a prospective study
PAIgM, IgM were found alone in 29 percent of cases.16 In and critical review. Haematologia 2000;85:627-31.
our series, we did not confirm IgM/A specificity by MAIPA. 7. Fabris F, Scandellari R, Randi ML, Carraro G, Luzzatto G,
Our strategy should allow us to determine whether IgM Girolami A. Attempt to improve the diagnosis of immune
and/or IgA directed against PLT antigens (GPIIbIIIa, thrombocytopenia by combined use of two different plate-
GPIbIX, GPIaIIa) are involved in the pathogenicity of ITP. let autoantibodies assays (PAIgG and MACE). Haemato-
In conclusion, flow cytometry is useful to screen logica 2002;87:1046-52.
patients with a suspicion of immune thrombocytopenia, 8. Janisiw M, Eichelberger B, Koren D, Panzer S. Screening for
but does not prevent MAIPA testing to establish the diag- platelet auto-antibodies by flow cytometry and their evalu-
nosis. Such a strategy requires each laboratory to evaluate ation by the MAIPA technique. Wien Klin Wochenschr
its own flow cytometric cutoff levels according to its own 1998;110/15:531-4.
assay conditions. 9. Kiefel V. The MAIPA assay and its applications in immuno-
haematology. Transfus Med 1992;2:181-8.
10. Berchtold P, Muller D, Beardsley D, Fujisawa K, Kaplan C,
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Kekomaki R, Lipp E, Morell-Kopp MC, Kiefel V, McMillan
R, von dem Borne AE, Imbach P. International study to
We are indebted to Dr B. Lartigue for including patients in this
compare antigen-specific methods used for the measure-
study.
ment of antiplatelet autoantibodies. Br J Hameatol 1997;
96:477-83.
11. Kiefel V, Santoso S, Weisheit M, Mueller-Eckhardt C.
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1. George JN, Woolf SH, Raskob GE, Wasser JS, Aledort LM, antigens (MAIPA): a new tool for the identification of
Ballem PJ, Blanchette VS, Bussel JB, Cines DB, Kelton JG, platelet-reactive antibodies. Blood 1987;70:1722-6.
Lichtin AE, McMillan R, Okerbloom JA, Regan DH, Warrier 12. Griner PF, Mayewski RJ, Mushlin AI, Greenland P. Selec-
I. Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: a practice guide- tion and interpretation of diagnostic tests and procedures.
line developed by explicit methods for the American Principles and applications. Ann Intern Med 1981;94:557-
Society of Hematology. Blood 1996;88:3-40. 92.
2. Kuwana M, Kurata Y, Fujimura K, Fujisawa K, Wada H, 13. British Committee for Standards in Haematology General
Nagasawa T, Nomura S, Kojima T, Yagi H, Ikeda Y. Prelimi- Haematology Task Force. Guidelines for the investigation
nary laboratory based diagnostic criteria for immune and management of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
thrombocytopenic purpura: evaluation by multi-center in adults, children and in pregnancy. Br J Haematol 2003;
prospective study. J Thromb Haemost 2006;4:1936-43. 120:574-96.
3. Fabris F, Scandellari R, Ruzzon E, Randi ML, Luzzatto G, 14. Tomer A. Flow cytometry for the diagnosis of autoimmune
Girolami A. Platelet-associated autoantibodies as detected thrombocytopenia. Curr Hematol Res 2006;5:64-9.
by a solid-phase modified antigen ELISA test (MACE) are a 15. Olsson A, Andersson PO, Tengborn L, Wadenvik H. Serum
useful prognostic factor in idiopathic thrombocytopenic from patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic
purpura. Blood 2004;103:4562-4. purpura frequently affect the platelet function. Thromb
4. Hagenström H, Schlenke P, Henning H, Kirchner H, Klüter Res 2002;107:135-9.
H. Quantification of platelet-associated IgG for differential 16. Nel JD, Stevens K, Mouton A, Pretorius FJ. Platelet-bound
diagnosis of patients with thrombocytopenia. Thromb IgM in autoimmune thrombocytopenia. Blood 1983;61:
Haemost 2000;84:779-83. 119-24.
DESLEUCOCITARIOS
e-mail: hdiezortega@yahoo.com
RESUMEN
ABSTRACT
reduction of blood components transfused, guided to reduce it, may increase the
patients with hematologic malignancies, that had been transfunded with platelet
concentrates derived from Buffy Coat, with or without the use of leukocyte
groups, for the refractoriness development . Additionally, the cost of the therapy
I. INTRODUCCION.
plaquetas normales ( 3, 4 ).
Coat ( BC ).
La filtración es un método aceptado y altamente efectivo en la prevención de
recursos.
costos individuales por transfusión para cada método. De los datos obtenidos se
GRUPO DE ESTUDIO
Cancerologia y que requerían plaquetas con fin profiláctico o terapéutico por tener
previa por cualquier razón, tenían síndrome febril, Infección clínica diagnosticada,
Los pacientes que cumplieron los criterios de inclusión fueron ingresados en forma
Concentrados plaquetarios
activando el plato de presión. Como el plasma tiene menor viscosidad que los
glóbulos rojos empacados fluye más rápido que los glóbulos rojos y la capa
bolsa superior, mientras que los eritrocitos son transferidos simultáneamente hacia
1)
Donde,
A
IC = Incremento corregido
reacciones alérgicas.
REFRACTARIEDAD
como un ICA menor a 5,0 ( 2 ). Este proceso siempre estuvo supervisado por uno
Instituto.
III. RESULTADOS.
GRUPO DE ESTUDIO
De los 83 pacientes incluidos, todos reunían los criterios de inclusión para una
28/42 en el grupo sin filtro y 38/41 en el grupo con Filtro ); en su mayoría mujeres (
26/42 en el grupo sin filtro y 24/41 en el grupo con filtro ) y los concentrados
REFRACTARIEDAD PLAQUETARIA
Los dos grupos presentaron un alto grado de refractariedad ( 28/42 en el grupo sin
ANÁLISIS DE COSTOS
IV. DISCUSIÓN
Acs contra Ags HLA-I del donador, y contra otros Ags menores de la superficie
que han sido transfundidos más de una vez ( 4.77 a 5.44 transfusión ).
el proceso de remover más del 90% de las células blancas de los componentes
asociados con problemas clínicos. Sin embargo, están asociados con dos
18 ). Este estudio mostró que el grado de refractariedad en el grupo sin filtro fue
generados por plaquetas genera proceso febriles. Sobre estos dos últimos puntos
existen estudios documentados como los de Kao.,1995 demostrando que el
cual los filtros no retienen de manera eficiente los leucocitos depende de la calidad
del mismo y los porcentajes van del 0,3 al 2.7% ( 20 ) ; Darrelly., 2001 verificó la
citoquinas IL-1, IL-6 y TNF las cuales causan reacciones febriles en el huésped.
tecnológica.
2. Bishop J., Mathews J., Yuen K.., McGrath K., 1992. The definition of
3. Dutcher J., Schiffer C., Aisner J., Wiernik P., 1995 . Alloimmunization
4. DeCoteau J., Haddad S., Blanchette V., Poon A., 1998. Refractoriness to
Hematology l4 ( 4 ) : 306-3l0.
6. Hogmann C., Berseus O., Eriksson L., Gulliksson H., 1997. International
7. Hogman C., Eriksson L., Hedlund K., Walvik J., 1988. The Bottom and
8. Kaplan C., Libbeley J., 1997. Platelet immunology and post transfusión
Effectiveness, Benefits, Quality Control, and Costs. Arch Pathol Lab Med
118 : 392-404.
11. Saarinen U., Kekomaki R., Siimes M., Myllyla G., 1990. Effective
257:l777.
14. Connell B., Lee E., Schiffer C., 1998. The value of 10-minutes
15. Bishop J., McGrath K., Wolf M., 1998. Clinical Factors Influencing the
16. Tomasulo P., 1980. Management of the alloimmunized patient with HLA-
Blood Bulletin 1 : 1.
2:2.
20. Kao K., Michel M., Braine H., 1995. White cell reduction in platelet
DIAGNOSTICO
Leucemia Linfoide Aguda 28 38
Leucmia Mieloide Aguda 8 2
Aplasia Medular 1 0
Linfoma Hodgkin 1 1
Linfoma No Hodgkin 1 1
Sarcoma Blastico 1 0
ORDEN DE TRANSFUSION
Terapeutica(Sin sangrado) 21 26
Sangrado leve 12 9
Sangrado moderado 4 4
Sangrado severo 5 2
Cristina Sanz, Carolina Freire, Inaki Alcorta, Antonio Ordinas, and Arturo Pereira
F
ailure of HLA-matched platelets to increase the
BACKGROUND: In HLA-alloimmunized patients, the un- posttransfusion platelet count is a major problem
expected failure of HLA-matched platelet transfusions occurring in 12 to 40 percent of HLA-alloim-
usually raises the suspicion about concomitant platelet- munized patients who are receiving chronic plate-
specific antibodies. As the reported frequency of plate- let support.1 Although concomitant factors—such as fever,
let-specific antibodies in multitransfused patients varies hypersplenism, or ABO incompatibility—usually account
widely, the aim of this study was to determine the preva- for the poor transfusion results, in some patients no obvi-
lence of such antibodies in a population of chronic ous reason can be found. This frequently raises the suspi-
thrombocytopenic patients with HLA antibodies. cion that platelet-specific antibodies can be present. Inves-
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: From 1985 to 1997, tigation of such antibodies in the presence of HLA
11,777 determinations of HLA antibodies were per- antibodies is difficult from the technical viewpoint. Chemi-
formed in 1330 hematologic patients receiving chronic cal removal of HLA molecules from the platelet surface,
platelet support. Fifty-two patients with HLA alloimmu- thereby allowing identification of platelet-specific antibod-
nization that lasted more than 1 month were selected. ies by conventional serologic methods, often fails to achieve
The search for platelet-specific antibodies was per- its goal and yields dubious or uninterpretable results. On
formed by using a monoclonal antibody immobilization the other hand, the MoAb immobilization of platelet anti-
of platelet antigens assay, thus allowing the identification gens assay (MAIPA), that is the most appropriate assay in
of platelet-specific antibodies directed against the plate- this setting, is usually available only in reference immuno-
let glycoproteins (GP) Ib/IX, GPIIb/IIIa, and GPIa/IIa. hematology laboratories. In addition, there is a high degree
Specificity of the platelet-specific antibodies was further of uncertainty about the magnitude of the problem created
investigated by using a solid-phase assay with chloro- by platelet-specific antibodies. Thus, while for some au-
quine-treated platelets. thors platelet-specific antibodies constitute a frequent find-
RESULTS: Only 2 (3.8%) of the 52 patients had platelet- ing in multiply transfused patients, with prevalence rates
specific antibodies. One antibody reacted with an ranging from 15 percent to 36 percent,2-4 for others, such an-
epitope of the GPIIb/IIIa that was present in all the panel
platelets, and that probably was an autoantibody. The
other was an anti-HPA-5b.
ABBREVIATIONS: GP = platelet glycoprotein; LCT = microlym-
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of platelet-specific an-
phocytotoxicity; MAIPA = monoclonal antibody immobilization
tibodies in patients with HLA alloimmunization is very
of platelet antigens.
small. The search for concomitant platelet-specific anti-
bodies would be indicated only when other causes of re- From the Service of Hemotherapy and Hemostasis; and the
fractoriness to HLA-matched platelets are ruled out. Augusto Pi i Sunyer Memorial Institute for Biomedical Research,
Hospital Clínic; and the Service of Hematology, Hospital San
Juan de Dios, Barcelona, Spain.
Address reprint requests to: Cristina Sanz, PhD, MD, Service
of Hemotherapy and Hemostasis, Hospital Clínic, Villarroel 170,
08036 Barcelona, Spain; e-mail: csanz@clinic.ub.es.
Supported in part by Grant FIS 99/0464 from the Govern-
ment of Spain.
Received for publication August 29, 2000; revision received
November 24, 2000, and accepted December 5, 2000.
TRANSFUSION 2001;41:762-765.
tibodies are much less frequent, appearing in only 0 to 9 parallel as control for an optimal removal of HLA antigens
percent5-8 of these patients. from the platelet monolayer surface.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the Before 1992, transfused blood components were ob-
prevalence of platelet-specific antibodies in a large popu- tained from whole blood by preparation of platelet-rich
lation of HLA-alloimmunized patients receiving chronic plasma. Since 1992, blood components have been prepared
platelet support because of marrow failure. The MAIPA was from buffy coat, so they were partially WBC-reduced. The
used to reveal platelet-specific antibodies in the presence use of filtered cellular blood components was circum-
of HLA antibodies. scribed to selected patients (those with a history of febrile
transfusion reactions or recipients of CMV-negative marrow
transplants).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the Hospital Clinic, hematologic patients receiving
chronic platelet support are routinely screened at weekly RESULTS
intervals for the presence of HLA antibodies. A standard Fifty-two (3.9%) of the 1330 patients had HLA antibodies.
complement-dependent microlymphocytotoxicity (LCT) The median age of these patients was 42 (range, 16-71)
assay using a panel of 18 to 24 selected donors carrying the years; 35 (63.5%) were females. Clinical diagnoses at the
most frequent HLA-A and HLA-B specificities is used. From time of the HLA alloimmunization were marrow transplant
the mid-1980s onward, several aliquots of serum from each in 34 patients, acute myeloid leukemia in 10 patients, non-
patient had been routinely stored frozen at –80°C. This Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 3 patients, myelodysplastic syn-
study reviewed the LCT results of 1330 patients who were dromes in 2 patients, severe marrow aplasia in 2 patients,
tested from 1985 to 1997 (11,777 determinations). Patients and chronic myeloid leukemia in 1 patient. All patients had
were considered to be HLA alloimmunized when their se- been transfused repeatedly before HLA antibodies were
rum reacted with more than 40 percent of the panel cells detected. In most cases, the HLA antibodies showed a broad
on two or more occasions, and the reactivity lasted for at specificity, reacting with all the panel cells. In 7 patients, an-
least 1 month. After review of the patients’ clinical records, tibodies were directed against HLA-A2. Most patients with
positive results that could be ascribed to antithymocyte HLA antibodies of broad reactivity were refractory to ran-
globulin were rejected. dom-donor platelet transfusions (5 patients no longer re-
In patients with HLA antibodies, the concomitant pres- quired platelet transfusions). Eleven patients had severe
ence of platelet-specific antibodies was investigated by bleeding complications (cerebral hemorrhage in 10 and
MAIPA. From each patient, at least two serum samples massive gastrointestinal bleeding in one). Five of these
separated by 1 month or more were tested by MAIPA and patients died as a consequence of the hemorrhagic com-
LCT. The MAIPA was performed as described by Kiefel et al.9 plications.
The following monoclonal antibodies against platelet gly- In the MAIPA, only two patients (3.8%) had platelet-
coproteins (GP) were used: GR-P and FMC-25 against specific antibodies. One antibody recognized an unidenti-
GPIb/IX (respectively, a gift of Frederico Garrido, MD, PhD, fied epitope on the GPIIb/IIIa, and reacted with all the panel
Service of Immunology, Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, chloroquine-treated platelets in the solid-phase assay. The
Granada, Spain; and purchased from Serotec, Oxford, En- patient had acute myeloid leukemia and became refractory
gland), 962 and 672 against GPIIb/IIIa (both provided by to random-donor platelet transfusions and unmatched
Ramón Vilella, MD, PhD, Service of Immunology, Hospital single-donor platelets. She died of cerebral hemorrhage
Clínic, Barcelona, Spain), and Gi9, directed against the before HLA typing could be performed. The second anti-
CD49b on GPIa/IIa (CLB, Amsterdam, Netherlands). Micro- body was an anti-HPA-5b. The patient was a multiparous
titer plates were coated with goat anti-mouse IgG, Fc spe- woman with acute myeloid leukemia, and became refrac-
cific, and capture of the immunocomplex was revealed by tory to random-donor platelets while she was in
horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-human IgG, postremission chemotherapy. Good posttransfusion recov-
Fc specific, antibody (both from Sigma-Aldrich, Madrid, eries were obtained by transfusing platelets from HLA-
Spain). matched donors and two sons who were crossmatch
Specificity of the platelet-specific antibodies was fur- compatible on a solid-phase assay (Capture P).
ther investigated by use of a solid-phase assay (Capture-P
Ready Screen, Immucor, Norcross, GA). Platelet monolay-
ers on the kit plates were treated with chloroquine (20%
DISCUSSION
chloroquine in saline buffered at pH 5, 200 µL per well for As shown in the present study, HLA alloimmunization con-
2 hours at 22°C, followed by four washes with PBS, pH 7.2). tinues to be a major clinical problem that causes significant
Sera with a high-titer, polyspecific, HLA antibody, without morbidity and mortality in those patients who require
concomitant platelet-specific antibodies, were tested in chronic platelet support. Difficulties in finding HLA-com-
patible donors (or the concomitant presence of clinical fac- alloimmune thrombocytopenia, where most cases are
tors that reduce the posttransfusion recovery of HLA- caused by HPA-1a and HPA-5b antibodies.15 The reason for
matched platelets) contribute to an increase in the clinical this discrepancy is not apparent. It is possible that differ-
impact of HLA alloimmunization. In addition, even in the ences in the mechanisms of immune response after blood
absence of such clinical factors, well-matched platelets are transfusion, in comparison with pregnancy, may account
highly variable in their efficacy to increase the posttrans- for the above discrepancy. Alternatively, as most of the
fusion platelet count.1 Platelet-specific antibodies may also platelet-specific antibodies associated with HLA alloim-
account for the poor posttransfusion recoveries, and con- munization described up to now were found in series of
cern about the presence of such antibodies frequently patients from central Europe, a genetic predisposition
arises when HLA-matched platelets fail unexpectedly to could be entertained. This might explain the observed dif-
increase the platelet count. ferences in both the prevalence and the involved specifici-
In a previous study, no case of platelet-specific anti- ties of platelet-specific antibodies. In fact, such a genetic
bodies was found among patients who were refractory to predisposition has been described for the immune re-
platelet transfusion and had not developed HLA antibod- sponse against HPA-1a, closely related to HLA-DRw52a,16
ies.10 However, patients with HLA antibodies seem to be and HPA-5b, associated with HLA-DR6.17,18 Furthermore,
more prone to develop platelet-specific antibodies. In fact, studies on multiply-transfused patients from the United
transfusion-induced platelet-specific antibodies have been States6 and the Netherlands,13 for instance, have found a
found nearly exclusively in HLA-alloimmunized patients, higher incidence of HPA-1a antibodies than that reported
in whom they appear in close temporal relationship with for patients from central Europe.8,14,19 Serum samples from
the HLA antibodies.6,11 Therefore, the present study focuses some of the patients in the current report had been stored
on a selected population of patients with HLA alloim- frozen for a long time, and this might have decreased the
munization. To rule out both passively transferred HLA reactivity of platelet antibodies. However, HLA antibodies
antibodies and vanishing HLA immunizations, only cases in these sera reacted in LCT as strongly as they did before
in which the lymphocytotoxic antibodies lasted for at least storage, and some of the control sera with platelet antibod-
1 month were selected. In order to detect platelet-specific ies that were run in parallel with the patients’ samples in
antibodies that might have not appeared at the same time MAIPA had also been stored frozen for more than 10 years.
as HLA antibodies, at least two serum samples collected 1 In conclusion, the results show that in Spain, platelet-
month apart were tested from each patient. specific antibodies are rare in HLA-alloimmunized patients
Only two cases of platelet-specific antibodies were who receive chronic platelet support. Consequently, when
found in a group of 52 HLA-alloimmunized patients who HLA-matched platelets fail to increase the platelet count in
were seen in a large hematology unit over 12 years. One case these patients, other factors potentially accounting for the
was a panreactive antibody, without a definite specificity, poor transfusion result should be investigated first.
and it probably was a platelet autoantibody; the other case
was an anti-HPA-5b. These results are in accordance with ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
what can be expected from the phenotype frequency of The authors are indebted to Ana Ribera, MD, PhD and Francisco
HPA antigens, and also with the low prevalence of HPA im- Parra, MD, PhD from the Banc de Sang i Teixits del ICS
munization after pregnancy. For instance, because the (Barcelona, Spain) for providing some of the anti-HPA sera that
prevalence of HPA-1a antibodies after pregnancy is 0.1 per- were used as controls and also for typing the platelets used in
cent,12 the probability of finding at least one such alloim- MAIPA.
munization among 52 individuals is only 5 percent. The
results also agree with the findings of Novotny et al.,13 who
found platelet-specific antibodies in only 2.6 percent of 229 REFERENCES
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found a higher frequency of platelet-specific antibodies. sion of platelets “mismatched” for HLA antigens to
Restricting the review to studies in which MAIPA was used, alloimmunized thrombocytopenic patients. Am J Hematol
the prevalence of platelet-specific antibodies in HLA- 1977;2:219-26.
alloimmunized, multiply transfused patients ranged from 02. Pegels JG, Bruynes EC, Engelfriet CP, et al. Serological stud-
5.5 percent to 20 percent.6,7,14 Panreactive and undefined ies in patients on platelet-and granulocyte-substitution
platelet antibodies, such as those found in the current study, therapy. Br J Haematol 1982;52:59-68.
were not rare among these alloimmunizations, as they ac- 03. Murphy MF, Waters AH. Immunological aspects of platelet
counted for 14 of the 23 platelet-specific antibodies found transfusions. Br J Haematol 1985;60:409-14.
in three large series.8,13,14 When a definite HPA specificity 04. McGrath K, Wolf M, Bishop J, et al. Transient platelet and
was found, the most frequently involved ones were HPA-1b HLA antibody formation in multitransfused patients with
and HPA-5b, in contrast with what occurs in neonatal malignancy. Br J Haematol 1988;68:345-50.
05. Godeau B, Fromont P, Seror T, et al. Platelet 13. Novotny VM, van Doorn R, Witvliet MD, et al. Occurrence
alloimmunization after multiple transfusions: a prospective of allogenic HLA and non-HLA antibodies after transfusion
study of 50 patients. Br J Haematol 1992;81:395-400. of prestorage filtered platelets and red blood cells: a pro-
06. Kickler T, Kennedy SD, Braine HG. Alloimmunization to spective study. Blood 1995;7:1736-41.
platelet-specific antigens on glycoproteins IIb-IIIa and Ib/ 14. Legler TJ, Fisher I, Dittmann J, et al. Frequency and causes
IX in multiply transfused thrombocytopenic patients. of refractoriness in multiply transfused patients. Ann
Transfusion 1990;30:622-5. Hematol 1997;74:185-9.
07. Taaning E, Simonsen AC, Hjelms E, et al. Platelet 15. Panzer S, Auerbach L, Cechova E, et al. Maternal
aloimmunization after transfusion. A prospective study in alloimmunization against fetal platelet antigens: a prospec-
117 heart surgery patients. Vox Sang 1997;72:238-41. tive study. Br J Haematol 1995;90:655-60.
08. Uhrynowska M, Zupanska B. Platelet-specific antibodies in 16. Müeller-Eckhardt C, Müeller-Eckhardt G, Willen-Ohff H, et
transfused patients. Eur J Haematol 1996;56:248-51. al. Immunogenicity of an immune response to the human
09. Kiefel V, Santoso S, Weisheit M, et al. Monoclonal anti- platelet antigen Zwa is strongly associated with HLA-B8 and
body-specific immobilization antigens (MAIPA). A new tool DR3. Tissue Antigens 1985;26:71-6.
for the identification of platelet-reactive antibodies. Blood 17. Müeller-Eckhardt C, Kiefel V, Kroll H, et al. HLA-DRw6, a
1987;70:1722-6. new Immune response marker for immunization against
10. Alcorta I, Pereira A, Ordinas A. Clinical and laboratory fac- the platelet alloantigen Bra. Vox Sang 1989;57:90-1.
tors associated with platelet transfusion refractoriness: a 18. Semana G, Zazoun T, Alizadeh N, et al. Genetic susceptibil-
case-control study. Br J Haematol 1996;93:220-4. ity and anti-human platelet antigen 5b alloimmunization
11. Schnaidt M, Northoff H, Wernet D. Frequency and specific- role of HLA class II and TAP genes. Hum Immunol
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haematologic-oncologic patients. Transfus Med 19. Kurz M, Greinix H, Höcker P, et al. Specificities of antiplate-
1996;6:111-4. let antibodies in multitransfused patients with haemato-
12. Dreyfus M, Kaplan C, Verdy E, et al. Frequency of immune oncological disorders. Br J Haematol 1996;95:564-9. 6
thrombocytopenia in newborns: a prospective study. Im-
mune Thrombocytopenia Working Group. Blood
1997;88:4402-6.
HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY CLINICS
OF NORTH AMERICA
Platelet Transfusion Therapy
Sherrill J. Slichter, MDa,b,*
a
Puget Sound Blood Center, 921 Terry Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-1256, USA
b
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
S
tatistics on blood product usage in the United States are often reported
several years after the data are generated. The latest nationwide statistics
from the National Blood Data Resource Center are for 1999. Platelet
transfusions totaled approximately 9 million concentrate equivalents; ie, one
apheresis collection was considered equivalent to six pooled random donor
platelet concentrates [1]. Compared with 1997, the total number of platelet
units transfused was unchanged, but single donor apheresis platelet use
increased by 6.7%, while platelets prepared from whole blood (platelet concen-
trates) decreased by 10.6%.
A major focus of this article will be on providing guidelines for the appropri-
ate use of platelet transfusions to reduce unnecessary transfusions, thereby
avoiding transfusion-related risks to the patients as well as the costs of platelet
therapy. The costs of platelet therapy for the long-term support of patients who
have hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia are substantial. For example, the
costs of platelet therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients
receiving chemotherapy ranged between $11,406 and $13,016 [2], and they av-
eraged $4,000 for patients having an autologous peripheral blood stem cell
transplant versus $11,000 for those having an allogeneic bone marrow trans-
plant [3]. Up to 20% of thrombocytopenic patients may become refractory to
platelet transfusions, and this may double the costs of their platelet therapy [4].
*Puget Sound Blood Center, 921 Terry Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-1256. E-mail address:
sjslichter@psbc.org
0889-8588/07/$ – see front matter ª 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.hoc.2007.06.010 hemonc.theclinics.com
698 SLICHTER
Retain and store individual platelet concentrates Remove and store supernatant pooled BC
platelet concentrates in a storage bag
PRP=Platelet-rich plasma.
PPP=Platelet-poor plasma.
Fig. 1. Preparation of platelet concentrates from whole blood. Two methods of preparing
platelet concentrates from whole blood have been described. The main differences are related
to the centrifugation steps that are used, proceeding from whole blood to a platelet concen-
trate. Specific details of the methods are described in [5] for PRP platelet concentrates and
in [6] for BC platelet concentrates.
bag in the PRP method requiring resuspension of the platelets may compro-
mise the long-term storage of PRP platelets compared with BC platelets.
Apheresis Platelets
The major advantage of apheresis platelets is that enough platelets can be col-
lected from a single donor to constitute a transfusion dose. In contrast, to
obtain an equivalent number of platelets requires pooling four to six whole
blood-derived platelet concentrates.
The reduction in donor exposures by using apheresis platelets has the poten-
tial advantages of reducing transfusion-transmitted infections and the incidence
of platelet alloimmunization. However, the current tests for detecting viral
transmission by transfusion have reduced the infectious risk/donor exposure
to very low levels [13]. The bacterial risk associated with platelet transfusions
is high because platelets are stored at 22 C rather than at 4 C as are red cells.
Some studies have suggested a reduction in bacterial transmission by transfu-
sion with the use of single-donor platelets [14]. However, the American Asso-
ciation of Blood Banks (AABB) has recently mandated testing of all platelet
products for bacteria [15], which should reduce this potential advantage of
single-donor platelets versus pooled random-donor platelets.
Concerning prevention of platelet alloimmunization, there is no benefit of us-
ing leukoreduced single donor platelets compared with leukoreduced pooled
random donor platelets [16]. There is a substantial increase in costs for single
donor compared with pooled random donor platelets [17]. In addition, there
are some risks to the donor during platelet apheresis procedures [18]. As the
quality of apheresis platelets is similar to pooled random donor platelet concen-
trates [19], these two products can be used interchangeably based on availabil-
ity and cost considerations [20].
Leukoreduction
There are clear indications for providing leukoreduced platelet products: (1) reduc-
tion of platelet alloimmunization rates [16]; (2) prevention of cytomegalovirus-
transmission by transfusion [21]; and (3) reduction in febrile transfusion reactions
[22]. In addition, there are studies that suggest that white cells that contaminate
platelet and red cell transfusions may contribute to possible immunomodulatory
effects of transfusion such as an increased incidence of postoperative infections
and metastasis formation in cancer patients [23]. However, a great deal of contro-
versy still surrounds whether transfusions have immunomodulatory effects [24].
Another controversial issue is universal leukoreduction [25]. In spite of the
increased costs associated with leukoreduction and a loss of up to 25% of
the platelets [26], many countries, organizations, and individual blood centers
and hospitals have instituted universal leukoreduction of the blood supply
rather than limit leukoreduction to only the established indications.
Gamma (c)-Irradiation
Gamma-irradiation of platelets is indicated to prevent transfusion-related graft-
versus-host disease (GVHD), which is uniformly fatal [27]. Gamma-irradiation
700 SLICHTER
with the usual dose of 25 Gy in one study did not effect either posttransfusion
platelet survival or function [28]. However, in a more recent transfusion study
in thrombocytopenic patients, c-irradiation decreased 1-hour posttransfusion
increments by 2800 platelets/lL and showed an increased hazard ratio of
1.45 for the development of platelet refractoriness [29]. Furthermore, in unpub-
lished observations from the TRAP Trial [16], c-irradiation prolonged the du-
ration of HLA alloantibodies in patients who developed these antibodies
during the course of the transfusion. Therefore, indiscriminate use of c-irradi-
ation should be avoided.
Proven situations where c-irradiation should be performed are for patients
receiving allogeneic stem cell transplants and for patients who are severely
immunocompromised usually because of their disease or its treatment (eg, pa-
tients who have Hodgkins disease or other lymphomas) [27].
Volume Reduction
For some patients who are receiving large volumes of fluids where consider-
ation of intravenous line availability is an issue, who are volume overloaded,
or for infants/young children where an adult volume may be excessive, volume
reduction of platelets before transfusion is a consideration. Fortunately, for
most children, volume reduction is often unnecessary [30]. Whenever platelets
are concentrated by centrifugation, there is likely to be some damage to the
platelets, resuspension is often incomplete, and, therefore, this extra processing
should only be done if really necessary for patient care [31].
10
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Platelet Count (platelets/ L × 103)
Fig. 2. Relationship between platelet count and platelet survival. Relationship between plate-
let count and the survival of autologous (closed symbols) and donor (open symbols) 51Cr-la-
beled platelets in normal and thrombocytopenic subjects who have no evidence of
hypersplenism (circles). Complications included splenectomy (squares), splenomegaly (trian-
gles), and prior transfusions (diamonds). At platelet counts of <100 103/lL, there is a direct
relationship between the platelet count and the platelet survival. (Reprinted from Hanson SR,
Slichter SJ. Platelet kinetics in patients with bone marrow hypoplasia: evidence for a fixed
platelet requirement. Blood 1985;56:1105–9; with permission. Copyright ª 1985, the Amer-
ican Society of Hematology.)
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 703
A
35 3
25
2
20
15
1
10
0 0
5 10 15 20 25
Platelet Transfusion Number
B
35 3
Mean Platelet Increment (× 103/ L)
25
2
20
15
1
10
0 0
5 10 15 20 25
Platelet Transfusion Number
Fig. 3. Relationship between number of platelet transfusions and platelet increments at 1 hour
and 18 to 24 hours after transfusion and days-to-next transfusion. (A) The mean 1-hour post-
transfusion platelet increments are plotted for the first 25 transfusions given to all study patients.
These data represent 6334 transfusions given to 533 patients (closed circles). Similar data for
the 18- to 24-hour posttransfusion platelet increments are shown for 5555 transfusions given to
531 patients (open circles). Data for days-to-next transfusion for 5955 transfusions given to
530 patients (closed triangles). (B) When the same analyses are plotted for only lymphocyto-
toxic antibody-negative patients, the results are similar. One-hour increments for 5484 transfu-
sions given to 477 patients (closed circles), 18- to 24-hour increments for 4833 transfusions
given to 475 patients (open circles), and days to next transfusion for 5144 transfusions given
to 474 patients (closed triangles). Dotted lines are best fit of the data for 1-hour posttransfusion
increments; dashed lines, for 24-hour posttransfusion increments; and solid lines for days-to-
next transfusion. (Reprinted from Slichter SJ, Davis K, Enright H, et al. Factors affecting post-
transfusion platelet increments, platelet refractoriness, and platelet transfusion intervals in
thrombocytopenic patients. Blood 2005;105:4106–14; with permission. Copyright ª
2005, the American Society of Hematology.)
704 SLICHTER
Hemostasis
The most relevant aspect of platelet transfusion therapy is whether the platelets
have been able to prevent the onset of bleeding in severely thrombocytopenic
patients or control bleeding in patients who have significant blood loss. In the
past, the FDA has licensed platelets for transfusion based on in vitro measure-
ments of platelet function, biochemistry, and metabolism along with document-
ing adequate posttransfusion platelet recoveries and survivals. However, with
significant changes in platelet preparation and storage conditions, they are
requiring documentation of hemostasis following transfusion [41]. Hemostasis
can be demonstrated using three different techniques: (1) observational assess-
ments of patients’ bleeding status [42]; (2) documenting the relationship between
bleeding times and platelet count [43,44]; and (3) measuring radiolabeled stool
blood loss [45]. The most common clinical method of documenting hemostasis
is by using the World Health Organization (WHO) Bleeding Scale [42].
15
0
0 10 20 30 40 60
Bleeding Time (Min)
Fig. 4. Inverse relationship of bleeding time to circulating platelet count in patients who have
thrombocytopenia on the basis of impaired production when the concentration of platelets is
between 10,000 and 100,000 per lL. The regression line is shown by the solid line, and
95% confidence limits are indicated by the shaded area. (Reprinted from Harker LA, Slichter
SJ. The bleeding time as a screening test for evaluating platelet function. N Engl J Med
1972;287:155–9; with permission. Copyright ª 1972, Massachusetts Medical Society.)
lost per day in the stool. Study duration averaged 8.4 3.9 days with a range
of 4 to 16 days. It was presumed that these stool blood loss studies would pro-
vide an assessment of blood loss through the intact vasculature of the gastroin-
testinal (GI) track and might also be reflective of the potential for bleeding
elsewhere. Fig. 5 shows the relationship between platelet count and stool blood
loss. At platelet counts of >10,000/lL, stool blood loss was no different than
values found in normal subjects (ie, <5 mL/day). At platelet counts between
5000 and 10,000/lL, stool blood loss was only slightly increased above normal
(9 7 mL/day). However, at platelet counts of <5000/lL, stool blood loss was
markedly elevated in all patients (50 20 mL/day).
100
Stool Blood Loss (mL/day)
80
60
40
20
5 10 15 20 25
Platelet Count / L × 103
Fig. 5. Stool blood loss as a measure of thrombocytopenic bleeding. When stool blood loss
(expressed as milliliters of blood/day) was determined in 20 aplastic thrombocytopenic
patients (C), blood loss was <5 mL/day at platelet counts of >10,000/lL; at platelet counts
between 5000/lL and 10,000/lL, blood loss averaged 9 7 mL/day; and at platelet counts
of <5000/lL, blood loss was markedly elevated at 50 20 mL/day. (Adapted from Slichter
SJ, Harker LA. Thrombocytopenia: mechanisms and management of defects in platelet produc-
tion. Clin Haematol 1978;7:523–9; with permission.)
SLICHTER
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 709
Table 2
Prospective randomized filter leukocyte-reduced prevention of platelet alloimmunization
transfusion trials
Development of lymphocytotoxic antibodies
Authors Total no. patients Control (%) Leukocyte-reduced (%) P value
Schiffer et al [65] 56 42 20 .07
Murphy et al [66] 50 48 16 <.02
Sniecinski et al [67] 40 50 15 <.01
Andreu et al [68] 69 31 12 <.05
Oksanen et al [69] 31 26 13 NS
van Marwijk Kooy et al 53 42 7 <.004
[70]
Williamson et al [71] 123 38 22 .07
AML 53 63 31 .03
TRAP Trial [16] 268 45 18 <.001
Data from Slichter SJ. Understanding the effects of different types of white cells on patient’s responses to
transfusion: immunization versus tolerization. Vox Sang 2002;83(Suppl 1):421–4.
710 SLICHTER
residual rate of alloimmunization in the treated arms was 18% overall and re-
mained at that rate even in a subset of patients who had no prior antigen ex-
posure and who received all of their blood products appropriately
leukoreduced or UV-B irradiated based on their randomization assignment;
and (6) none of the platelet modifications prevented the development of plate-
let-specific alloantibodies, and these antibodies were not predictive of platelet
refractoriness.
There remain several unanswered questions with regard to preventing
platelet alloimmunization. The actual effectiveness of the current methods
of leukoreduction to prevent platelet alloimmunization may very well be de-
pendent on the immunocompetence of the patients transfused. With the
exception of the study by Williamson and colleagues [71] that admitted
a wide range of cancer patients, all the other prevention of platelet alloim-
munization transfusion trials have evaluated leukoreduced blood products in
patients receiving induction chemotherapy for AML [16,65–70]. Interest-
ingly, Williamson and colleagues [71] did not demonstrate a statistically
significant benefit of leukoreduction in patients who had solid tumors and
were receiving chemotherapy (although a trend was noted). Benefit was
shown only in the subset of patients who had AML and were receiving in-
duction chemotherapy, similar to the results of the other trials. Thus,
whether our current methods of leukoreduction will be proven effective in
reducing platelet alloimmunization rates in patients who may be receiving
potentially less or no immunosuppressive therapy—as in cancer patients
who have solid tumors or in patients with aplastic anemia or myelodyspla-
sia, respectively—remains to be determined [72].
As the rates of antibody development in the TRAP Trial [16] were substan-
tially different from the rates of alloimmune platelet refractoriness, one might
question the cost-effectiveness of modifying platelets to prevent alloimmuniza-
tion. HLA alloantibodies developed in 45% of the patients in the control arm
and in 17% to 21% of the patients in the treated arms, and this compares to
rates of alloimmune platelet refractoriness of only 13% and 3% to 5%, respec-
tively. As many of the patients were no longer receiving platelet transfusions
by the time antibodies developed, platelet refractoriness could not be docu-
mented. Therefore, the actual rates of alloimmune platelet refractoriness
may be higher than reported. HLA-antibodies may become important during
subsequent courses of chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia but only if
they are durable. However, it has been documented that HLA antibodies
may not persist in up to 42% of patients even with continued transfusions
[73].
Finally, there is some evidence from animal studies that prevention of plate-
let alloimmunization may not just be related to a quantitative reduction in the
number of transfused WBCs. Rather, it may be important to document both
what types of white cells are removed [74] and which ones remain [75]. It is
known that the types of white cells that are removed differ among filters and
among apheresis machines that produce in-process leukoreduction [76,77].
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 711
Table 4
Stool blood loss and red blood cell transfusions in patients randomly assigned to receive
platelet transfusions at platelet triggers of 5000, 10,000, or 20,000 platelets/lL
Stool blood loss (mL) RBC transfusions
Transfusion
trigger Per thrombocytopenic Per thrombocytopenic
(platelets/lL) Patients Total daya Total daya
5000 31 111 29 11 2 4.1 0.6 0.4 0.04
10,000 26 71 15 6 1 4.8 0.7 0.4 0.04
20,000 24 136 53 10 3 5.5 1.0 0.4 0.05
a
Data reported as average 1 SE. Total stool blood loss divided by number of days platelet count
20,000/lL.
Data from Slichter SJ, LeBlanc R, Jones MK, et al. Quantitative analysis of bleeding risk in cancer patients
prophylactically transfused at platelet counts of 5,000, 10,000, or 20,000 platelets/lL [abstract]. Blood
1999;94(Suppl 1):376a.
Platelet dose
As opposed to the consensus that has been reached on the safety and efficacy of
a prophylactic platelet transfusion trigger of 10,000 platelets/lL, well-de-
signed prospective studies to evaluate the effects of platelet dose on hemostasis
and rates of platelet use are not available. The effects of platelet dose on trans-
fusion outcomes has recently been reviewed [93]. All three prospective studies
evaluating posttransfusion platelet counts and interval-to-next transfusion have
been performed by giving different doses of platelets to the same patient. These
studies showed both a greater increase in the posttransfusion platelet count as
well as a longer interval-to-next transfusion with higher compared with lower
dose platelet transfusions [94–96]. These results would have been predicted
based on the known relationship between platelet count and platelet survival
[34]. However, these preliminary studies [94–96] did not address the clinically
relevant issue of outcomes when a patient receives repeated transfusions of the
same dose of platelets compared with other patients who are receiving a differ-
ent dose. Theoretically, lower dose platelets should reduce the total number of
platelets transfused, but would increase the frequency of transfusions [97]. As
the major cost of a platelet transfusion is the platelets themselves (88% of the
cost) [98], low-dose, frequent transfusions should be the most cost-effective
714 SLICHTER
Table 5
Factors that affect bleeding risk in patients who have AML
Bleeding severitya
Mild Clinically significant Severe
b c c
Factor RR (CI) P RR (CI) P RRc (CI) P
Antifungal 0.59 .014
medication (0.39–0.90)
Clinical 1.98 .05
infection (1.00–3.92)
Body 1.52 <.005 1.87 <.005
temperature (1.25–1.85) (1.40–2.49)
Platelet 0.45 <.005
transfusion (0.28–0.72)
Platelet 0.97 <.005 0.96 <.005 0.96 .005
count (0.96–0.98) (0.93–0.98) (0.93–0.99)
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk.
a
Mild (WHO Grades 1 and 2), clinically significant (WHO Grades 2, 3, and 4), and severe (WHO
Grades 3 and 4).
b
Factor refers to the presence of this variable on the day before the assessment of bleeding.
c
Temperature RR, the increase in bleeding risk for every 1 C increase in body temperature; platelet
count RR, the decrease in bleeding risk for every 1000/lL increase in the platelet count.
Data from Webert KE, Cook RJ, Sigouin CS, et al. The risk of bleeding in thrombocytopenic patients with
acute myeloid leukemia. Haematologica 2006;91:1530–7.
alone did not predict Grades 3 and 4 on the following day. The risk of clinically
significant bleeding (Grades 2, 3, or 4) increased progressively at temperatures
>38 C. At temperatures >38.5 C, the relative risk was 3.95, but there was no
effect of temperature on severe bleeding (Grades 3 or 4).
The finding of an increase in bleeding risk with decreased platelet counts for
all bleeding grades in this study [105] is in direct contrast to findings in two other
large studies that evaluated factors that affected bleeding risk. These involved
2942 patients [106] and 64 patients [102] who had a variety of hematologic
and solid tumor malignancies. In the first study [106], there was no relationship
between platelet count and bleeding risk, and, in the second study [102], there
was no difference in bleeding risk—either minor or major—for patients who had
platelet counts of 10,000 to 20,000/lL versus those who had platelet counts of
20,000 to 50,000/lL. Both studies confirmed a relationship between prior bleed-
ing and a subsequent risk of bleeding. Recent serious hemorrhage in the prior
5 days (WHO Grades 2, 3, or 4) correlated with subsequent bleeding (odds ratio
6.72) [106]. On 25% of the days with minor bleeding (WHO Grades 1 and 2),
major bleeding (WHO Grades 3 and 4) was also observed. Conversely, minor
bleeding was noted on 98% of the days with major bleeding [102]. Other factors
that increased the odds radio for bleeding were uremia, liver dysfunction, and
recent bone marrow transplantation, but the effects were relatively small
(odds ratios of 1.64, 1.54, and 1.32, respectively) [106].
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 717
study included 789 patients transplanted in 1995. Platelets were transfused pro-
phylactically at all 18 transplant centers, usually at platelet counts between
10,000/lL and 19,000/lL. One hundred forty-three hemorrhagic events of
moderate or greater severity occurred in 89 patients (11%). Most events
occurred in patients undergoing allogeneic transplantation (78%) and before
platelet recovery (89%). The median (range) time of hemorrhage from the
date of stem cell infusion was 19 days (0-60). The major site of bleeding was
genitourinary, often related to chemotherapy-induced cystitis. The second
most common site of bleeding was gastrointestinal. Most events (66%) oc-
curred when the morning platelet count was >20,000/lL. Sixteen patients
(2%) died from a hemorrhagic event. Because most bleeding occurred when
the morning platelet counts were >20,000/lL, this finding suggests that clinical
events that occur during the early posttransplant period such as mucositis,
graft-versus-host disease, cystitis, and infection may be more important predic-
tors of hemorrhage than platelet count.
Bleeding associated with mortality was investigated in a retrospective analy-
sis of 83 leukemic patients with a terminal course after transplantation [112].
Fatal bleeding was identified in 16 (19%) of the patients, and the bleeding
was intracranial in 5 patients, gastrointestinal in 5 patients, and generalized
in 6 patients. There were no significant differences in platelet counts between
those patients with a terminal hemorrhage (25,000/lL) versus those without
(31,000/lL), indicating that factors other than the platelet count (such as
GVHD and white cell counts) were more likely related to hemorrhagic mortal-
ity. The overall hemorrhagic incidence was similar in allogeneic and autolo-
gous bone marrow transplant populations (18% and 19%, respectively).
Acute bleeding after bone marrow transplantation was also investigated in
1402 patients receiving transplants at Johns Hopkins Hospital between 1986
and 1995 [113]. The overall incidence of bleeding was 34.0%, with minor
bleeding in 10.6%, moderate bleeding in 11.3%, and severe bleeding in
12.0% of all patients. Fourteen percent of patients had moderate or severe gas-
trointestinal hemorrhage, 6.4% had moderate or severe hemorrhagic cystitis,
2.8% had pulmonary hemorrhage, and 2.0% had intracranial hemorrhage.
Moderate and severe bleeding was more common in allogeneic (31.0%,
P < .0001) and unrelated transplants (62.5%, P < .0001) compared with autol-
ogous transplants (18.5%). The higher incidence of bleeding in allogeneic and
unrelated transplant patients compared with autologous transplants may be
related to an increased incidence of GVHD and infectious complications in
the allogeneic transplant patients. Overall, the bleeding risk in bone marrow
transplantation may be higher than in patients with acute leukemia or those
with solid tumors (see the following paragraph) and also higher for allogeneic
versus autologous transplant recipients.
Solid Tumors
Five retrospective studies of solid tumor patients who had thrombocytopenia
and associated bleeding have been reported to date [114–118]. No prospective
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 719
or controlled trials in this population have been reported. Four of these studies
confirm the findings in leukemia patients (ie, the rate of bleeding increased as the
platelet count decreased, and no clear threshold could be shown) (Table 6) [91].
These studies reported a relatively low overall rate (<5% in the three largest
studies) of major or life-threatening episodes of bleeding except when the plate-
let count fell below 10,000/lL. These observational data also show that hem-
orrhage at necrotic tumor sites, including fatal hemorrhages, can occur at
platelet counts well above 20,000/lL. In one study [115], there was no clear
relationship between platelet count and risk of bleeding because the majority
of cases of serious bleeding (37 of 44 cases) occurred at platelet counts exceed-
ing 20,000/lL, often at necrotic tumor sites.
SLICHTER
Data from Schiffer CA, Anderson KC, Bennett CL, et al. Platelet transfusion for patients with cancer: clinical practice guidelines of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
J Clin Oncol 2001;19:1519–38.
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 721
“FRESH” PLATELETS
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
SELECT COMPATIBLE DONORS BY: ADVERSE CLINICAL FACTORS OR
HLA MATCHING. DRUGS.
Fig. 6. Platelet refractory algorithm. The sequence of steps, detailed in the text, for providing
platelet support for platelet refractory patients is outlined. (Reprinted from Slichter SJ. Algorithm
for managing the platelet refractory patient. J Clin Apher 1997;23:4–9; with permission.)
HLA-antigens at the molecular level [122]. This approach has been evaluated in
a small group of 16 patients who had aplastic anemia and has shown improved
predictability for selecting compatible donors compared with increasing the
donor pool size based on identifying donors with HLA-serologically defined
cross-reactive groups (CREG) [123]. Unfortunately, even with donors selected
by any of these techniques, 20% to 30% of the selected donor transfusions may
give poor responses. These poor responses are likely related to: (1) nonimmune
causes of platelet refractoriness that may also be present in alloimmunized
patients (see the next section); (2) drug-related or autoantibodies; or (3) failure
to detect relevant antibodies because of insensitivity of the assay systems.
It should be remembered that up to 40% of patients may lose their antibodies
over time (1 week to several months) despite continued platelet transfusions
[120]. Therefore, periodic assessments of antibody status may allow some
patients to be returned to random donor platelet transfusions with continued
good responses to these platelets for extended periods of time.
Nonimmune Platelet Refractoriness
When platelet refractoriness in the TRAP Trial was redefined as two sequential
posttransfusion platelet increments of 11,000 platelets/lL at 1-hour posttrans-
fusion rather than basing refractoriness on CCI measurements, 27% of the 533
patients receiving induction therapy for AML developed platelet refractoriness.
Analyses of the results of 6379 transfusions given to these TRAP Trial patients
was used to determine the clinically important patient and product-related
factors that affected transfusion outcomes (Table 7) [29]. Only two factors
722
Table 7
Clinically important factors affecting platelet transfusion outcomes
1-Hour platelet 18- to 24-hour platelet Refractoriness Days-to-next
increment (platelets/lL) increment (platelets/lL) (hazard ratio) transfusion
Factor
Overall response 24,900 12,000 1.75
Clinically important change 5000a 2400a 2.0b 0.35a
Improved platelet responses
Splenectomy þ24,800c þ12,400c
ABO compatible þ4600 þ6300c
Decreased platelet responses
Lymphocytotoxic antibody-positive 9300c,d 4000c 3.48c 0.36c
Females with 2 pregnancies, and males 8900c 5700c 2.78c 0.40c
Palpable spleen 3500 4400c 0.23
Heparin 3800c 2.43c 0.37c
Bleeding 1700 3100c 2.00c 0.33
Fever 1600 2000 2.12c 0.25
Amphotericin 2700 2500c 0.28
DIC 0.40c
a
A clinically important change for 1-hour and 24-hour posttransfusion increments and days-to-next transfusion was considered to be a 20% difference (either an increased or
a decreased response) from the overall responses observed in the trial.
b
For the hazard ratio, an increase of 2.0 was considered clinically important.
c
Value meets the criteria for a clinically important change. If a result is given but not noted with‘‘c’’, it is statistically significantly different but does not meet the clinically important
criterion. If no value is listed (—), there was neither a clinically important nor statistically significant difference for the outcome measure.
d
The platelet increment was estimated to be 9300 platelets/lL less at 1 hour after transfusion for all study arms except UV-B. UV-B platelets were reduced by only 750 platelets/ll.
The platelet increment was estimated to be 4000 platelets/lL less at 18 to 24 hours after transfusion for all arms.
SLICHTER
Reprinted from Slichter SJ, Davis K, Enright H, et al. Factors affecting post-transfusion platelet increments, platelet refractoriness, and platelet transfusion intervals in thrombocy-
topenic patients. Blood 2005;105:4106–14; with permission.
PLATELET TRANSFUSION THERAPY 723
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges the excellent administrative support of
Ginny Knight.
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Rev Cubana Angiol y Cir Vasc 2000;1(2):132-41
1
Doctora en Ciencias Biológicas. Investigadora Titular. Lic. en Bioquímica.
2
Investigadora Agregada. Licenciada en Bioquímica.
132
Características nas que tienen la secuencia arginina-glicina-
estructurales aspartato (RGD): fibrinógeno, fibronectina,
de las plaquetas vitronectina, factor de von Willebrand,
colágeno. Las integrinas más estudiadas
Las plaquetas son fragmentos cito- han sido GPIIb/IIIa y la GPIb/IX .5-8
plasmáticos anucleados que se producen La GPIIb/IIIa ocupa una gran propor-
como consecuencia de la ruptura de los ción de la superficie plaquetaria (∀ 15 % de
megakariocitos de la médula ósea, las cua- la proteína total de la membrana y 3 % de la
les son células extraordinariamente grandes célula). Hay de 3 a 8 réplicas en la plaqueta
(" 20 mm de diámetro), con un núcleo alta- en reposo. Es un heterodímero de 228 kDa,
mente poliploide y un citoplasma subdivi- dependiente de calcio, cuyas subunidades
dido por capas de membranas onduladas. a y b son codificadas por genes diferentes.
Se forman a partir de vesículas que se des- La mayor proporción de esta glicoproteína
prenden en grandes cantidades de las mem- es extracelular y dispone de 2 segmentos
branas externas de los megakariocitos. Cir- transmembrana y 2 cortos segmentos
culan en la sangre en forma de disco citoplasmáticos formados por los extremos
biconvexo (discocitos) de aproximadamen- C terminales. En la plaqueta en reposo se
te 3 mm2 de diámetro, 4 – 7 mm3 de volumen halla en forma de monómero, ya que la aso-
y 10 pg de peso. Poseen carga eléctrica ne- ciación de las subunidades requieren cal-
gativa en su superficie. Su concentración cio extracelular, que se enlaza a la subunidad
normal en la sangre es de 150 a 350 x 106/mL IIb.3,4,9-12
y su tiempo de vida media en sangre es La GP Ib/IX es un heterodímero forma-
de 7 a 10 días. Junto a los eritrocitos y do por la asociación de las GP Ib y IX. La
leucocitos constituyen los elementos for- GPIb consta de una cadena a y una b enlaza-
mes de la sangre.2-4 Poseen algunos elemen-
das por puentes disulfuro. Tiene regiones
tos comunes a otras células y otros que las
extracelulares (" 40 nm), que garantizan la
distinguen y caracterizan.
interacción con los ligandos vWF y
trombina), submembrana y citoplasmáticos,
que actúan como anclaje del complejo a la
MEMBRANA EXTERNA
célula. Esta glicoproteína es rica en leucina.
La tabla muestra su composición. Después de la GPIIb/IIIa es la mayoritaria en
Constituye una bicapa lipoproteica con la membrana plaquetaria (1 – 3 x 104 molécu-
glicoproteínas que funcionan como recep- las /plaqueta). Las subunidades GP1 a y b y
tores de los agonistas fisiológicos de las la GPIX son codificadas por genes diferen-
plaquetas (ADP, TXA2, trombina), proteí- tes, localizados en cromosomas diferentes.
nas adhesivas (fibrinógeno, fibronectina, La región extracelular posee los dominios de
laminina, trombospondina, vitronectina, identificación de la trombina y el vWF. Las
factor de von Willebrand [vWF]) y para diferentes porciones de este complejo tienen
ligandos fibrosos como el colágeno, ade- una función: la región extracelular facilita el
más, posee enzimas importantes para el fun- acceso al subendotelio y la interacción con
cionamiento celular y fosfolípidos3,4 Es res- trombina y vWF; la región intracitoplasmática
ponsable de la interacción de la célula con une los dominios funcionales extraplaquetarios
el medio circundante a través de receptores con el citoesqueleto de actina; la región
entre las que figuran las integrinas las cua- transmembrana actúa como anclaje de la
les se caracterizan por enlazarse a proteí- glicoroteína en la membrana plaquetaria.3,4,9-11
133
CITOPLASMA SISTEMA CANALICULAR ABIERTO
134
TABLA. Componentes de la membrana externa y de los gránulos
plaquetarios
Receptor Ligando
Receptor Trombina
a2 adrenérgico Epinefrina
S2 Serotonina
P 2Y 1 ADP
TP tromboxano A 2
Receptor factor activante de plaquetas
Receptor Fragmento Fc de Inmunoglobulinas
Enzimas
Fosfolipasas C y A2
Adenil y Guanil ciclasas
Fosfolípidos
135
res en reposo. La fuente de energía es la do por la interacción vWF-GPIb, pero en
glucosa que se obtiene a partir del condiciones de alto flujo también se requie-
glucógeno y la vía fundamental es la re la participación de GPIIb/IIIa. Se forman
glicolisis anaerobia, que convierte la glu- enlaces firmes que dependen de la estruc-
cosa en lactato e iones de hidrógeno, los tura fibrilar del colágeno y de la cantidad de
cuales son captados por el acetato, que subunidades RGD.
entra a las mitocondrias para su oxidación La adhesión plaquetaria al colágeno
en el ciclo del ácido tricarboxílico (ciclo de requiere de la interacción del colágeno con
Krebs), lo que propicia la síntesis de ATP vWF del plasma, GPIb, GPIaIIa de la mem-
por la fosforilación oxidativa y la estabiliza- brana plaquetaria que durante la formación
ción del pH celular. Incorporan a su interior del coágulo establecen enlaces plaqueta-
(por un mecanismo independiente de ener- fibrina. Se produce la internalización de las
gía) fragmentos de membrana que contie- mallas de fibrina o de colágeno, que son
nen GPIIb/IIIa y también fibrinógeno, y (por rodeados de microfilamentos.16,20
un mecanismo dependiente de energía), frag-
mentos de membrana que contienen GPIb,
esto permite la regeneración de los recep- CAMBIO DE FORMA
tores de membrana.4
Estas células concentran la mayoría de La primera manifestación física de la
la serotonina de la sangre la cual toman activación plaquetaria es el cambio de for-
unida a calcio mediante transporte activo.15 ma de discocito a esferocito, que se acom-
También toman del plasma ligandos como paña de un incremento en la superficie des-
fibrinógeno, colágeno, fibronectina y de 8,02 mm2 (en la plaqueta en reposo) a
aminas biógenas.4 13,0 mm2 (en la plaqueta activada). Dismi-
nuye la longitud del subesqueleto
submembrana cuya evaginación aporta
ACTIVACIÓN PLAQUETARIA membranas para este proceso. Se produce
la redistribución de los microtúbulos, lo que
La participación de las plaquetas en los le confiere la característica de defor-
procesos de hemostasia y trombosis depen- mabilidad celular y la posibilidad de emitir
de de la ocurrencia de 3 eventos: el enlace seudópodos. Los microtúbulos que están
plaqueta -superficie o adhesión plaquetaria; en estrecho contacto con el gel contractil,
el cambio de forma y el enlace plaqueta- se trasladan hacia el centro de la célula.
plaqueta o agregación plaquetaria. Se procede a la desintegración del
citoesqueleto y se restituye a partir de la
ADHESIÓN PLAQUETARIA internalización de fragmentos de la mem-
brana externa. Es un proceso independien-
Las plaquetas son capaces de adherir- te de calcio (cuando el estímulo es el ADP)
se a superficies artificiales, sobre las cuales y dependiente de energía.4
se expanden. Utilizan como ligando al
fibrinógeno, a través de su unión a GPIIb/
IIIa. También se adhieren al colágeno (fun- AGREGACIÓN PLAQUETARIA
damentalmente de los tipos I y III), vWF,
fibronectina, laminina. En condiciones de Estímulos fisiológicos para la activa-
bajo flujo sanguíneo, este evento es media- ción plaquetaria son la trombina, el
136
colágeno, el ADP, la epinefrina, el activa la proteína kinasa C, que desencade-
tromboxano A2 (TXA2). Los eventos pos- na una serie de fosforilaciones de proteí-
teriores tienen elementos comunes y otros nas que parecen importantes para el proce-
que lo diferencian. Por ejemplo, ocurren so de agregación plaquetaria).19,25,27 En el
como resultado de la estimulación de re- caso del TXA2 se cree que también hay
ceptores específicos (tabla). 19,21-26 En el entrada a la célula del calcio extracelular a
caso de la trombina, el ADP y el TXA2, se través de una intensificación del intercam-
trata de receptores acoplados a proteínas bio Na+/H+ de lo cual depende más de la
enlazantes de nucleótidos de guanina (pro- mitad del incremento del calcio citoplas-
teínas G). El de trombina es una glicopro- mático.26
teína con 7 dominios transmembrana, de la La trombina, el ADP y la epinefrina in-
cual hay de 1 500 a 2 000 copias que se ducen inhibición de la actividad ade-
desensibilizan rápidamente al producirse la nilciclasa en la plaqueta, cuya implicación
activación las cuales no son recuperables.25 en el resultado final no está bien determi-
El receptor del ADP es purinérgico, él se nado.22,25,28
caracteriza por responder con activación Se desconocen los mecanismos
frente al ADP y con inhibición frente al ATP. bioquímicos que llevan a la activación de la
Su estructura no ha sido identificada y por GPIIb/IIIa y el enlace del fibrinógeno, pero
mucho tiempo se ha denominado far- hay evidencias de que este último es inde-
macológicamente como receptor P2T. Sin pendiente del calcio.29
embargo, algunas evidencias experimenta- La activación plaquetaria por agentes
les recientes, sugieren que se trata de 3 como trombina, colágeno, ADP y epinefrina,
receptores, uno P2Y1, igual al que media la puede conducir a la activación de la
vasodilatación y que es causante del au- fosfolipasa A2 citoplasmática, que requie-
mento del calcio citoplasmático, el cambio re concentraciones fisiológicas de calcio
de forma y la agregación plaquetaria, otro para activarse, la cual cataliza la hidrólisis
P2 Y1 cyc, que media la inhibición de la de los fosfolípidos de membrana y da lugar
adenilciclasa y uno P2X1 (no acoplado a al ácido araquidónico que se metaboliza
proteína G) con una menor significa- preferencialmente por la vía de la TXA2
ción.22-24 sintetasa para dar lugar al TXA2, producto
Se plantea que al menos una inestable (sólo 5 s dura su actividad) cuyos
glicoproteína, la GPVI, actúa como receptor precursores, los endoperóxidos cíclicos,
para la fase de activación inducida por el son también capaces de activar el receptor.
colágeno y que su estimulación es una se- De esta manera el TXA2 constituye un am-
ñal para una fosfolipasa C.19 plificador de la señal de activación
Un evento que sigue a la activación es plaquetaria.26
el incremento de la concentración de calcio Después de un estímulo fuerte los
citoplasmática, cuyo mecanismo bioquímico gránulos alfa y densos se alargan y emi-
no ha sido determinado totalmente en la ten seudópodos, se aproximan a la mem-
mayoría de los casos. Con respecto a la brana plasmática (lo que es posible debi-
trombina, el colágeno y el TXA2, se ha de- do a la disolución del sistema canalicular
mostrado la ocurrencia de activación de la abierto), se funden con la membrana, au-
fosfolipasa C, que da lugar a la formación mentan de volumen debido a la entrada
de 1,4,5 trifosfato de inositol (que libera de agua y esto propicia la liberación de
calcio del sistema tubular denso y activa su contenido al medio exterior, lo que se
una miosina kinasa) y 1,2 diacilglicerol (que denomina secreción. 4
137
Un elemento que distingue a los agen- cuando se produzcan enlaces irreversi-
tes inductores de agregación plaquetaria es bles.16,20 La célula endotelial libera media-
el peso relativo que tienen la síntesis de dores químicos que impiden que ocurra la
TXA2 y la secreción en el resultado final. adhesión plaquetaria a un endotelio sano.
Por ejemplo, la agregación inducida por Estos mediadores son la prostaciclina
trombina, es resultado fundamentalmente (PGI2), principal metabolito del ácido
de la señal dada por la activación de su re- araquidónico en la célula endotelial, y el
ceptor, ya que no es afectada por la inhibi- óxido nítrico (NO), producto del metabolis-
ción de la síntesis del TXA2 por aspirina.23 mo de los aminoácidos.32 La PGI2 estimula
El ADP produce una primera fase de agrega- la adenilciclasa en la plaqueta y aumenta
ción reversible, de aproximadamente 30 s de los niveles intracelulares de AMPc, mien-
duración y que es consecuencia de la señal tras el NO estimula la síntesis de GMPc,
de activación del receptor, a lo que sigue que es el más potente inhibidor de la
una segunda fase irreversible y que depende hidrólisis del AMPc. Ambos inhiben la ad-
de la síntesis de TXA2.21,22,24 El TXA2 parece hesión plaquetaria y además, estimulan la
requerir de la liberación de ADP.29 reducción del calcio libre intracelular así
La conocida susceptibilidad a la aspi- modulan la agregación plaquetaria.16,26,31,33
rina de la agregación inducida por colágeno, Entre los mecanismos que favorecen
sugiere la importancia de la liberación de la adhesión/agregación están la liberación
TXA2 en su mecanismo de activación de ADP de los eritrocitos, que se lisan;34 la
plaquetaria. La epinefrina se considera un liberación del factor activante de plaquetas
agonista débil que amplifica el efecto de (potente estimulante de la agregación
otros estímulos a través del incremento de plaquetaria cuya función fisiológica en el
la concentración de calcio intracelular,28 y humano no se ha determinado) y TXA2 de
de la actividad adenilato ciclasa.30 los leucocitos activados,35 la exposición de
P selectina en las membranas de células
endoteliales y plaquetas, que media la
Regulación fisiológica interacción intercelular a través del recono-
de la adhesión/agrega- cimiento de estructuras hidrocarbonadas
ción plaquetaria ricas en ácido siálico y fucosa.35 Otro ele-
mento influyente es el “shear stress” del
Las plaquetas circulantes se encuen- flujo sanguíneo, que induce agregación
tran en una interacción dinámica con los plaquetaria a través del enlace del vWF con
componentes del plasma, los demás elemen- la GPIb y con una fuerte participación del
tos formes de la sangre y con el endotelio ADP liberado.37
vascular a través de las glicoproteínas de El estímulo para la participación de las
las membranas plaquetarias y de diferentes plaquetas en los procesos de hemostasis y
mediadores químicos.20 Los eritrocitos, que trombosis es la lesión del endotelio
viajan por la parte central de la corriente vascular, considerado como tal el daño físi-
sanguínea, desplazan a las plaquetas hacia co con exposición de la membrana basal rica
las cercanías de la pared del vaso, lo que en colágeno o la disfunción endotelial con
puede dar lugar a enlaces reversibles. La desbalance de la producción de mediado-
adhesión plaquetaria sólo será efectiva res anti y proagregantes.28
138
Cuando las plaquetas se adhieren al Consideraciones finales
endotelio atraen más plaquetas P selectina
positivas. Se reclutan y activan a los A partir del análisis global de la com-
leucocitos, los cuales se unen irreversible- posición de las plaquetas y los elementos
mente a la superficie plaquetaria por medio que rigen su funcionamiento queda claro
de la molécula de adhesión ICAM-2. La ac- que se trata de una célula compleja y sujeta
tivación del receptor para el fibrinógeno so- a la influencia de una gran diversidad de
luble y la participación de los fosfolípidos factores. Es evidente la importancia de in-
de la membrana plaquetaria como cofactores hibir la activación plaquetaria para prevenir
para la cascada de reacciones enzimáticas
la trombosis arterial, así como el significa-
de la coagulación favorece la formación del
do práctico que pudieran tener los estu-
trombo arterial.36
dios de función plaquetaria para el diag-
Por otra parte algunos componentes de
los gránulos plaquetarios, que se liberan nóstico de estados pretrombóticos, lo cual
durante la activación, influyen sobre otras es reforzado por el incremento de la reac-
células, uno de ellos es el factor de creci- tividad plaquetaria que ocurre en las horas
miento derivado de la plaqueta (PDGF), que del día en que son más frecuentes el infarto
estimula la proliferación celular y juega un del miocardio y la muerte súbita cardiaca.43
papel importante en la cicatrización de heri- Saltan a la vista la GPIIb/IIIa, el ADP y
das38 y al parecer también en el proceso de el TXA2 como principales blancos para la
aterogénesis:39 el TXA2 y la 5HT, que son modulación de la reactividad plaquetaria,
potentes vasoconstrictores39-41 y el inhibidor conocimiento que ha tenido una gran tras-
del activador del plasminógeno tipo 1 cendencia para el desarrollo de fármacos
(PAI-1), que tiene acción antifibrinolítica.42 antitrombóticos.
Summary: The important participation of blood platelets in the process of formation of the
arterial thrombus determines the interest the knowledge of their structural and functional
characteristics arises, since it is the basis, among other aspects, for the design of drugs and
antithrombotic treatment strategies. All the information existing about the platelet structure, the
biochemical components and their significance for the cellular function, the mechanisms of platelets
adhesiveness and activation, as well as their interaction with erythrocytes, leukocytes and with the
vascular endothelium, which define the participation of platelets in the processes of haemostasis
and thrombosis, is gathered in this paper.
139
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141
KIEFEL ET AL. IMMUNOHEMATOLOGY
A
lloantibodies against platelet membrane glyco-
BACKGROUND: Patients receiving cellular blood com- proteins (GPs) are a common cause for febrile
ponents may form HLA antibodies and platelet-specific nonhemolytic transfusion reactions. Most fre-
alloantibodies. quently, they react with HLA class I antigens.
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Serum samples from However, platelet-specific alloantibodies also have the po-
a cohort of 252 patients with hematologic or oncologic tential to induce febrile transfusion reactions.1
diseases who are receiving cellular blood components Patients who are given platelets over longer periods of
were studied for platelet-reactive antibodies. Specificity time, such as those under treatment for hematologic or
of platelet alloantibodies was determined with a panel of oncologic disorders, may develop a condition called refrac-
typed platelets toriness to platelet transfusions: platelet count increments
RESULTS: Platelet-reactive antibodies were detected in deteriorate even though the platelet doses are adequate. It
the sera of 113 patients (44.8% of 252), HLA antibodies has been reported2,3 that a variety of clinical conditions,
in the sera of 108 (42.9%), and platelet-specific antibod- such as splenomegaly, fever, septicemia, and severe bleed-
ies in the sera of 20 (8%). The following platelet-specific ing, as well as the presence of antibodies to alloantigens on
antibodies were identified: anti-HPA-5b (n = 10), anti- platelets, can be responsible for an inadequate rise in plate-
HPA-1b (n = 4), anti-HPA-5a (n = 2), anti-HPA-1a (n = 1), let count in the recipient. Recently, the proportion of pa-
anti-HPA-2b (n = 1), anti-HPA-1b+5b (n = 1), and anti- tients with platelet refractoriness due to alloantibodies
HPA-1b+2b (n = 1). Fifteen sera from the 108 patients alone has been estimated at approximately 18 percent4; in
with anti-HLA (13.9%) contained additional platelet-spe- an additional 20 percent, both sepsis and alloimmunization
cific alloantibodies, while in 5 sera, platelet-specific al- were observed. Similarly, Doughty et al.5 found alloantibod-
loantibodies only were detected: anti-HPA-5b (n = 4) and ies in approximately 25 percent of patients who were refrac-
anti-HPA-1a (n = 1). Of the 108 sera with HLA antibod- tory to platelet transfusions.
ies, 29 (26.9%) showed discordant results when studied
with the lymphocytotoxicity test and the glycoprotein-
specific immunoassay. Ten sera contained panreactive
ABBREVIATIONS: GP(s) = glycoprotein(s); LCT = lymphocyto-
antibodies against platelet glycoproteins (GP) IIb/IIIa,
toxicity test; MAIPA = monoclonal antibody immobilization of
GPIa/IIa, and/or GPIb/IX. Alloimmunization occurred in
platelet antigens; NAIT = neonatal alloimmune thrombocytope-
58.3 percent of female patients with previous pregnan-
nia; PTP = posttransfusion purpura.
cies, but in only 23.3 percent of those without previous
pregnancies (p = 0.0049). From the Department of Transfusion Medicine, University of
CONCLUSION: Platelet alloantibody specificities in Rostock, Rostock, Germany; and the Institute of Clinical Immu-
transfused patients (predominantly anti-HPA-5b and -1b nology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus Liebig University,
with antigen frequencies <30% among whites) differ sig- Giessen, Germany.
nificantly from those observed in patients with neonatal Address reprint requests to: Volker Kiefel, MD, Department
alloimmune thrombocytopenia or posttransfusion pur- of Transfusion Medicine, University of Rostock, Ernst-
pura, in whom anti-HPA-1a (antigen frequency >95%) is Heydemann-Strasse 6, D-18057 Rostock, Germany; e-mail:
the most prevalent specificity. HLA antibody detection volker.kiefel@med.uni-rostock.de.
yields discordant results when the lymphocytotoxicity This work is part of the doctoral dissertation of Claudia
assay and a glycoprotein-specific immunoglobulin-bind- König.
ing assay are used. Received for publication May 23, 2000; revision received
November 8, 2000, and accepted November 30, 2000.
TRANSFUSION 2001;41:766-770.
technique,15 according to a modified protocol obtained GPs and usually with all platelets of the test panel). Nine of
from the Central Laboratory of the Netherlands Red Cross these 10 sera contained IgG antibodies reacting in the
(Amsterdam, Netherlands). In brief, platelets were freshly PAIFT, and in four sera, the LCT showed positive results.
isolated from EDTA blood by differential centrifugation.
Platelet suspensions and sera (supplemented with 0.005 M HLA antibodies
Na2EDTA) were pipetted into wells of Terasaki trays covered Sera of all patients were analyzed by two techniques for
with mineral oil. These trays were read microscopically af- antibodies to HLA class I antigens, the LCT and the MAIPA
ter horizontal rotation at 4°C for 3 hours.16 assay. Of the 252 patients studied, 108 (42.9%) had HLA
antibodies in their sera (a positive result with at least 1/8
Statistical methods platelets in the MAIPA assay with an OD >0.8, or panel re-
The frequency of alloimmunization in female patients with activity of >20% in the LCT). In 66 female patients, we were
and without previous pregnancies was compared by able to obtain information about previous pregnancies
Fisher’s exact test.17 (Table 4): female patients who had been pregnant were
more likely to be immunized (p = 0.0049).
To study the degree of concordance obtained with the
RESULTS
LCT and the MAIPA assay, we studied 40 sera by both tech-
Platelet-specific antibodies niques with an identical panel of platelets and lymphocytes
The antibody specificity found with the highest frequency (Table 5) from six individuals. In this comparison, 9 sera
was anti-HPA-5b (Bra) (Table 2). Other specificities found
(in decreasing order of frequency) were anti-HPA-1b (PlA2),
TABLE 4. Relation between rate of immunization and
anti-HPA-5a (Brb), anti-HPA-2b (Koa), and anti-HPA-1a previous pregnancies in female patients
(PlA1). The prevalence of platelet-specific antibodies in all Immunized
patients was 20 (8%) of 252; in 5 (2%) of 252 patients, plate- Previous pregnancy No Yes
let-specific alloantibodies (anti-HPA-5b in 4 patients and No 23 07
anti-HPA-1a in 1) were not accompanied by HLA class I- Yes 15 21
specific antibodies. Of the 108 patients with HLA antibod-
ies, 15 (13.9%) exhibited additional platelet-specific alloan-
tibodies. Anti-HPA-5b was found almost exclusively in
TABLE 5. Results of 40 sera studied with the same
female patients: only 1 of 10 examples of anti-HPA-5b was
panel of six lymphocyte (LCT) and platelet
found in a male patient. In 10 patients (4%) (Table 3), we suspensions (HLA class I MAIPA)
identified platelet-specific antibodies with “broad” speci- LCT/MAIPA*
ficity (i.e., the antibodies reacted with one or more platelet –/– +/+ –/+ +/– Number of sera
6 0 0 0 9
1 5 0 0 2
TABLE 2. Frequencies of platelet-specific and HLA 5 0 1 0 3
class I antibodies 4 0 2 0 2
Antibody specificity Female Male Total 3 0 3 0 3
2 0 4 0 2
HLA 56 37 093 3 1 2 0 1
HLA + HPA-5b 05 01 006 3 2 1 0 2
HPA-5b 04 00 004 2 2 2 0 1
HLA + HPA-5a 02 00 002 1 2 3 0 1
HPA-1a 01 00 001 2 3 1 0 1
HLA + HPA-1b 01 03 004 0 5 1 0 1
HLA + HPA-1b + HPA-5b 01 00 001 5 0 0 1 3
HLA + HPA-2b 00 01 001 4 0 0 2 1
HLA + HPA-1b + HPA-2b 00 01 001 2 0 0 4 1
Total 70 (56.5%) 43 (33.6%) 113 (44.8%) 2 3 0 1 1
1 0 0 5 1
0 0 0 6 1
0 1 0 5 1
0 3 0 3 1
TABLE 3. GP specificities of sera with broad 0 4 1 1 1
reactivities against platelet GPs 2 0 3 1 1
GP specificity Number of sera 40
IIb/IIIa 04 * Number of negative results in both assays, –/–; number of posi-
IIb/IIIa + Ia/IIa 02 tive results in both assays, +/+; discordant results with nega-
IIb/IIIa + Ib/IX 01 tive reactions in LCT/positive reactions in MAIPA, –/+; discor-
IIb/IIIa + Ia/IIa + Ib/IX 03 dant results with positive reactions in LCT/negative reactions
Total 10 in MAIPA, +/–.
exhibited negative results with platelets and lymphocytes or more GPs of virtually all donor platelets are encountered.
and 2 sera showed concordant positive reactions. The re- Such antibodies have been observed by other authors and
maining 29 sera showed discrepant results with 1 to 6 cells are referred to in the literature as “autoantibodies” or
(Table 5). Of these, 17 showed graded 1 to 4 positive reac- “panreactive antibodies.” Panreactive antibodies were ob-
tions with platelets in MAIPA (HLA class I) but not in the served by Kurz et al.7 in 26 percent of patients, while, in 20
LCT; in 10 sera, 1 to 6 discrepant reactions were positive in percent, they were associated with HLA antibodies. In stud-
LCT, and in 2 sera, discrepant results were observed in both ies published by Novotny et al.27 and Godeau et al.,28 most
directions. antibodies with undefined specificity were not associated
with refractoriness to transfused platelets. Godeau et al.28
interpret these antibodies as autoantibodies. As we were
DISCUSSION not able to test these sera with the autologous platelets, the
Platelet-specific antibodies have been shown to be impli- antibodies listed in Table 3 cannot be characterized as au-
cated in neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT), toantibodies, and their significance in platelet transfusions
posttransfusion purpura (PTP), and rare cases of passive remains unclear. It is, however, hard to understand why the
alloimmune thrombocytopenia. The detrimental effect of autoantibodies described by Godeau et al.28 have practically
platelet alloantibodies on the survival time of transfused no impact on platelet survival time, whereas the antibod-
platelets in the circulation was made evident in a patient ies encountered in alloimmune thrombocytopenia dra-
with anti-HPA-1b and anti-HPA-3a.18 The clinical signifi- matically shorten the survival time of allogeneic platelets,
cance of HPA-5b antibodies with regard to the efficiency of which can directly be measured with 51Cr- or 111In-labeled
platelet transfusions has been demonstrated by Bierling et platelets.29
al.,1 who retrospectively analyzed febrile transfusion reac- The significant impact of alloantibodies against HLA
tions and platelet increments in a multiply transfused pa- class I antigens on the immunologic compatibility of plate-
tient. let transfusions was recognized some decades ago. This
Therefore, the search for platelet-specific alloantibodies study again confirmed the high incidence of HLA antibod-
seems rewarding in patients who are refractory to HLA-com- ies in transfused patients. It demonstrates that sera from
patible platelets. This study provides representative figures HLA-alloimmunized patients tested against a panel of both
for platelet alloantibody specificities that can be expected lymphocytes and platelets from identical donors do not
in transfused patients from a European population. always yield concordant results. One can speculate on the
It is interesting that alloantibody specificities encoun- possible reasons. Antibodies to HLA class I antigens may
tered in multiply transfused patients differ considerably not be able to activate complement, or mixtures of HLA
from those in patients with PTP and maternal alloantibod- antibodies may contain portions that are able to bind to
ies in NAIT. In those two conditions, anti-HPA-1a is the certain HLA molecules without the capability to activate
specificity most frequently encountered among white pa- complement. On the other hand, sera were found that re-
tients,19 whereas anti-HPA-1b and anti-HPA-5b are preva- act positively in the LCT, but that do not contain antibod-
lent among multiply transfused patients. As these two al- ies binding to HLA class I antigens. This constellation can
loantigens have approximate frequencies of less than 30 be anticipated in patients with autolymphocytotoxins in
percent in the white population, they can be circumvented their sera—that is, antibodies reacting with structures on
in the selection of platelet donors. Therefore, each sus- lymphocytes other than HLA class I antigens. In such pa-
pected platelet antibody should be analyzed for its speci- tients, a serologic crossmatch procedure assessing the
ficity. Anti-HPA-1b has been found by Schnaidt et al.20 and binding of antibody to platelets would be more appropri-
Allen et al.21 to be quite common in transfused patients. ate than the LCT. Another reason for discrepancies between
Bonacossa et al.22 found anti-HPA-3b to be the most fre- LCT results and immunoglobulin-binding assays with
quently encountered alloantibody, but this specificity is platelets and lymphocytes from the same donor may be the
identified only rarely in other laboratories. In a large series variable and sometimes low expression of certain HLA class
of multiparous blood donors, anti-HLA-5b was the most I antigens on platelets. Thus, Liebert and Aster30 could dem-
common alloantibody23; however, anti-HPA-1a was the sec- onstrate that HLA-B12 is expressed on platelets at densities
ond most frequent alloantibody in that donor group, which varying ± 35 times from lowest to highest density.
reflects the different mode of immunization in that study It remains to be determined whether HLA antibodies
population (pregnancy). Among Japanese24 and African that are not detectable in the LCT but are detectable in an-
Americans,25,26 immunization against the Naka alloantigen tiglobulin-binding assays have the capacity to shorten the
on GPIV should be taken into consideration in cases of survival of transfused platelets. The nature and the clinical
immunologically induced refractoriness. significance of panreactive antibodies should also be ad-
The data reported in this study indicate that, among dressed in future clinical observations. It is almost certain
multiply transfused patients, antibodies reacting with one that not every positive result in any serologic assay predicts
a low increment in platelet count after platelet transfusion. 15. Van der Weerdt CM. The platelet agglutination test in plate-
The optimal strategy for platelet substitution in immunized let grouping. In: Histocompatibility testing 1968.
patients remains a challenge. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1965:161-6.
16. Kiefel V, Kroll H, Bonnert J, et al. Platelet alloantigen fre-
quencies in Caucasians: a serological study. Transfus Med
REFERENCES
1993;3:237-42.
01. Bierling P, Fromont P, Bettaieb A, Duedari N. Anti-Br(a) an- 17. Armitage P, Berry G, eds. Statistical methods in medical re-
tibodies in the French population (letter). Br J Haematol search. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.
1989;73:428-9. 18. Langenscheidt F, Kiefel V, Santoso S, Mueller-Eckhardt C.
02. Klingemann HG, Self S, Banaji M, et al. Refractoriness to Platelet transfusion refractoriness associated with two rare
random donor platelet transfusions in patients with aplas- platelet-specific alloantibodies (anti-Baka and anti-PlA2) and
tic anaemia: a multivariate analysis of data from 264 cases. multiple HLA antibodies. Transfusion 1988;28:597-600.
Br J Haematol 1987;66:115-21. 19. Kroll H, Kiefel V, Santoso S. Clinical aspects and typing of
03. Slichter SJ. Mechanisms and management of platelet re- platelet alloantigens. Vox Sang 1998;74(Suppl 2):345-54.
fractoriness. In: Nance ST, ed. Transfusion medicine in the 20. Schnaidt M, Northoff H, Wernet D. Frequency and specific-
1990’s. Arlington: American Association of Blood Banks, ity of platelet-specific alloantibodies in HLA-immunized
1990:95-179. haematologic-oncologic disorders. Transfus Med
04. Legler TJ, Fischer I, Dittmann J, et al. Frequency and causes 1996;6:111-4.
of refractoriness in multiply transfused patients. Ann 21. Allen DL, Beardow H, Howkins GJ. Alloimmunization to
Hematol 1997;74:185-9. HLA and HPA in transfused and refractory patients (ab-
05. Doughty HA, Murphy MF, Metcalfe P, et al. Relative impor- stract). Transfus Med 1995;5:36.
tance of immune and non-immune causes of platelet re- 22. Bonacossa IA, Murchison CC, Schroeder ML. Platelet-spe-
fractoriness. Vox Sang 1994;66:200-5. cific antibodies in multitransfused patients (abstract).
06. Yankee RA, Graff KS, Dowling R, Henderson ES. Selection of Transfus Med 1996;6:94-5.
unrelated compatible platelet donors by lymphocyte HL-A 23. Kalinowski A, Dawkins B. A backdoor approach for select-
matching. N Engl J Med 1973;288:760-4. ing platelet typing sera: the lymphocytotoxicity test (letter).
07. Kurz M, Greinix H, Höcker P, et al. Specificities of anti-plate- Transfus Med 1997;7:65-6.
let antibodies in multitransfused patients with haemato- 24. Ikeda H, Mitani T, Ohnuma M, et al. A new platelet-specific
oncological disorders. Br J Haematol 1996;95:564-9. antigen, Nak(a), involved in the refractoriness of HLA-
08. Millard F, Tani P, McMillan R. A specific assay for anti-HLA matched platelet transfusion. Vox Sang 1989;57:213-7.
antibodies: application to platelet donor selection. Blood 25. Curtis BR, Aster RH. Incidence of the Nak(a)-negative plate-
1987;70:1495-9. let phenotype in African Americans is similar to that of
09. Kiefel V, Santoso S, Weisheit M, Mueller-Eckhardt C. Mono- Asians. Transfusion 1996;36:331-4.
clonal antibody-specific immobilization of platelet anti- 26. Curtis BR, Donnelly SF, Mintz PD, et al. Platelet transfusion
gens (MAIPA): a new tool for the identification of platelet refractoriness in an African American patient due to an
reactive antibodies. Blood 1987;70:1722-6. anti-Naka (abstract). Transfusion 1997;37(Suppl):96S.
10. Mulder A, Kardol M, Regan J, et al. Reactivity of twenty-two 27. Novotny VM, van Doorn R, Witvliet MD, et al. Occurrence
cytotoxic human monoclonal HLA antibodies towards of allogeneic HLA and non-HLA antibodies after transfu-
soluble HLA class I in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent sion of prestorage filtered platelets and red blood cells: a
assay (PRA-STAT). Hum Immunol 1997;56:106-13. prospective study. Blood 1995;85:1736-41.
11. Worthington JE, Thomas AA, Dyer PA, Martin S. Detection 28. Godeau B, Fromont P, Seror T, et al. Platelet
of HLA-specific antibodies by PRA-STAT and their associa- alloimmunization after multiple transfusions: a prospective
tion with transplant outcome. Transplantation study of 50 patients. Br J Haematol 1992;81:395-400.
1998;65:121-5. 29. Kiefel V, Becker T, Mueller-Eckhardt G, et al. Platelet sur-
12. Kiefel V. The MAIPA assay and its applications in immuno- vival determined with (51)Cr versus (111)In. Klin
hematology. Transfus Med 1992;2:181-8. Wochensch 1985;63:84-9.
13. Terasaki PI, McClelland JD. Microdroplet assay of human 30. Liebert M, Aster RH. Expression of HLA-B12 on platelets,
serum cytotoxins. Nature 1964;204:998-1000. on lymphocytes and in serum: a quantitative study. Tissue
14. Schneider W, Schnaidt M. The platelet adhesion immuno- Antigens 1977;9:199-208. 6
fluorescence test: a modification of the platelet suspension
immunofluorescence test. Blut 1981;43:389-92.
REACCIONES POSTRANSFUSIONALES
2. Interno de Pre-Grado del Hospital Victorino Santaella de los Teques, Escuela Luis
Razetti, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela.
RESUMEN:
ABSTRACT:
INTRODUCCIÓN
3- Alérgica 3- Refractariedad
plaquetaria
4- TRALI*
4- Inmunomodulación
B- No Inmunes 1- Contaminación bacteriana 1- Hemosiderosis
2- Hipervolemia 2- Transmisión de
infecciones
** Enfermedad injerto-versus-huésped
Clínica
Dolor en el área de la infusión, eritema, dolor lumbar (por necrosis tubular aguda)
o torácico (por formación de microémbolos), fiebre alta, escalofríos, taquicardia,
taquipnea, fatiga, ansiedad, náuseas, diarrea, diseña, dolor abdominal, hipotensión,
shock, coagulación intravascular diseminada (CID), anemia y oligoanuria. En
pacientes comatosos o anestesiados, el primer signo puede ser la presencia de fiebre,
taquicardia y hemorragia generalizada debida a CID.
Tratamiento
La reacción anafiláctica ocurre sobre todo en pacientes con deficiencia de IgA, que
poseen anticuerpos contra la IgA y desarrollan dicha reacción cuando se exponen a
componentes que contienen plasma. La clínica es la de una shock anafiláctico y se
trata como tal (epinefrina, antihistamínicos, esteroides, beta-2 agonistas inhalados).
Estos pacientes deben ser transfundidos con componentes que carecen de IgA, o con
concentrados celulares lavados (CGR o CP), para así remover el plasma ofensor.
Clínica y manejo
IB2- Hipervolemia
Malestar, fiebre e ictericia son los más comunes, usualmente de leve intensidad y
generalmente 5 a 10 días después de la transfusión. En las pruebas de laboratorio se
evidencia anemia e hiperbilirrubinemia indirecta; es rara la hemoglobinuria con daño
renal. Tanto el Coombs directo como el indirecto son positivos. Debe asegurarse una
buena hidratación y diuresis, vigilar la función renal y evitar el uso de agentes
nefrotóxicos. Como medida preventiva, debe utilizarse sangre que no posea el
antígeno para el cual el paciente tiene anticuerpos.
IIA4- Inmunomodulación
IIB1- Hemocromatosis
Retrovirus
CMV
Las infecciones por CMV asociadas a transfusión son una causa significativa de
morbimortalidad en receptores de productos sanguíneos es riesgo, tales como mujeres
embarazadas seronegativas para CMV, recién nacidos prematuros nacidos de madres
seronegativas, receptores de transplante de médula ósea alogénica seronegativos, y
pacientes con SIDA seronegativos para CMV(43).
Otros virus
REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS
2. Linden JV, Paul B, Dressler KP. A report of 104 transfusion errors in New York
State. Transfusion 1992; 32: 601-6.
3. Bordin JO, Heddle NM, Blajchman MA. Biologic effects of leukocytes present in
transfused cellular blood products. Blood 1994; 84: 1703-21.
4. Menitove JE, McElligott MC, Aster RH. Febrile transfusion reaction: What blood
component should be given next? Vox Sang 1982; 42: 318.
5. Chambers LA, Kruskall MS, Pacini DG, Donoven LM. Febrile reactions after
platelet transfusion: The effect of single versus multiple donors. Transfusion 1990;
30: 219.
7. Stec N, Kickler TS, Ness PM, Braine HG. Effectiveness of leukocyte depleted
platelets in preventing febrile reactions in multitransfused oncology patients.
Transfusion 1986; 26: 259.
10. Popovsky MA, Moore SB. Diagnostic and pathogenetic considerations in TRALI.
Transfusion 1985; 25: 573-7.
13. Silliman CC, Pateson AJ, Dickey WO, et al. The association of biologically active
lipids with the development of TRALI: a retrospective study. Transfusion 1997; 37:
719-26.
14. Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital (Case 40-1998). N Engl J
Med 1998; 339: 2005.
15. Red blood cell transfusions contaminated with Yersinia enterocolitica - United
States, 1991-1996, and initiation of a national study to detect bacteria-associated
transfusion reactions. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Per 1997; 46: 553-5.
16. Goodnough LT, Brecher ME, Kanter MH, AuBuchon JP. Transfusion Medicine
(Two Parts). N Engl J Med 1999; 340: 438-47, 525-33.
17. Klein HG, Dodd RY, Ness PM, Fretantoni JA, Nemo GJ. Current status of
microbial contamination of blood components: summary of a conference. Transfusion
1997; 37: 95-101.
18. Ness PM, Shirley RS, Thoman SK, Buck SA. The differentiation of delayed
serologic and delayed haemolytic transfusion reactions: incidence, long-term
serologic findings, and clinical significance. Transfusion 1990; 30: 688-93.
21. Antin JH, Ferrara JLM. Cytokine dysregulation and acute graft-versus-host
disease. Blood 1992; 80: 2964.
23. Ferrara JL, Deeg HJ. Graft-versus-host disease. N Engl J Med 1991; 324: 667.
24. Leitman SF, Holland PV. Irradiation of blood products: Indications and
guidelines. Transfusion 1985; 25: 293.
25. Friedberg RC, Donnelly SF, Boyd JC, Gray LS, Mintz PD. Clinical and blood
bank factors in the management of platelet refractoriness and alloimmunizacion.
Blood 1993; 81: 3428.
28. van Marwijk KM, van Prooijen HC, Moes M, BosmaStants I, Akkerman JWN.
Use of leukocyte-depleted platelet concentrates for the prevention of refractoriness
and primary HLA alloimmunization: A Prospective, randomized trial. Blood 1991;
77: 201.
30. Blajchman MA, Bardossy L, Carmen RA, Goldman M, Heddle NM, Singal DP.
An animal model of allogeneic donor platelet refractoriness: The effect of the time of
leukodepletion. Blood 1992; 79: 1371.
31. Pamphilon DH, Potter M, Cutts M, et al. Platelet concentrates irradiated with
ultraviolet light retain satisfactory in vitro storage characteristics and in vivo survival.
Br J Haematol 1990; 75: 240.
34. Singal DP, Leber B, Harnish DG, Frame B, Joseph S, Blajchman MA. Molecular
genetic basis for the antiidiotypic antibody response associated with successful renal
allograft survival in humans. Transplant Proc 1991; 23: 1059.
35. Forwell MA, Cocker JE, Peel MG, et al. Correlation between high-molecular-
weight Fc-receptor-blocking factors in serum and renal allograft survival.
Transplantation 1987; 44: 227.
36. Vamvakas E, Moore SB. Perioperative blood transfusion and colorectal cancer
recurrence: A qualitative statistical overview and meta-analysis. Transfusion 1993;
33: 754.
38. Heiss MM, Mempel W, Jauch KW, et al. Beneficial effect of autologous blood
transfusion on infectious complications after colorectal cancer surgery. Lancet 1993:
342: 1328.
40. Mincheff MS, Meryman HT, Kapoor V, Alsop P, Wötzel M. Blood transfusion
and immunomodulation: A possible mechanism. Vox Sang 1993; 65: 18.
41. Mincheff MS, Meryman HT. Costimulatory signals necessary for induction of T
cell proliferation. Transplantation 1990; 49: 768.
42. Selik RM, Ward JW, Buehler JW. Trends in transfusion-associated acquired
immune deficiency syndrome in the United States, 1982 through 1991. Transfusion
1993; 33: 890.
43. Sayers MH, Anderson KC, Goodnough LT, et al. Reducing the risk for
transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus infection. Ann Intern Med 1992; 116: 55.
47. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.P.H.S. Working Group.
Guidelines for counselling persons infected with human T-lymphotropic virus type I
(HTLV-I) and type II (HTLV-II). Ann Intern Med 1993; 118: 448.
Edificio del Decanato, Oficina 50 P.B., Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas D.C, Venezuela.
Apartado Postal 76333, El Marqués, Caracas.
Tlfs: (0212) 5619871 (0414) 2634154 Fax: (0212) 3214385
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 125
Capítulo 7
TRANSFUSIÓN DE CONCENTRADOS DE
PLAQUETAS, PLASMA Y COMPONENTES
PLASMÁTICOS, Y GRANULOCITOS
CONSIDERACIONES GENERALES
Cap. 7
Ante una indicación de CP es muy importante valorar:
- La cifra de plaquetas del paciente.
- Rapidez en la instauración de la misma trombopenia.
- Valoración de otros parámetros sanguíneos (hematocri-
to y alteraciones de la coagulación asociadas).
- Situación clínica del paciente: hemorragia activa en el
momento de la TS.
- Causa de la trombopenia, por ejemplo: déficit de pro-
ducción medular (aplasia, postquimioterapia, etc.).
- Consumo periférico (PTI, PTT, CID), esplenome-
galia.
125
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Transfusión de concentrados...
126
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 127
Refractariedad plaquetaria
Fallo en el incremento del número de plaquetas después de
dos TS seguidas, con CP de calidad comprobada, AB0 com-
patibles y en ausencia de fiebre, infección, hemorragia,
esplenomegalia o CID. Puede ser de causa inmune y no
inmune.
• Refractariedad de causa inmune. Debe sospecharse la
presencia de Ac anti plaquetas, HLA o PLA en los casos de
refractariedad sin causa clínica que la justifique. Es más fre-
cuente en mujeres multiparas y politransfundidos. Su demos-
tración se hará mediante el estudio de Ac antiplaquetarios.
127
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 128
Transfusión de concentrados...
Indicación de transfusión de CP
Una disminución en la cifra de plaquetas per se, no es indica-
ción de transfusión de CP. Trombopenias de 50.000 /µl rara-
mente precisan CP, entre 20 y 50.000 pueden tener indica-
ción en determinadas ocasiones (cirugía, pruebas diagnósticas
o terapéuticas invasivas, etc.) y en torno a 10.000 es el nivel
más frecuente de su uso como profilaxis de hemorragia.
Aunque posiblemente la prueba de laboratorio idónea para
la indicación de CP sería el tiempo de hemorragia, debido a
la dificultad de realización en algunos pacientes y de su estan-
darización, no se usa de forma rutinaria. El parámetro que se
utiliza habitualmente como umbral de decisión de CP es el
número de plaquetas, a pesar del error de recuento en niveles
tan bajos como 5-10.000 Pla/µl.
• Factores de riesgo. En la indicación de CP, además de la
cifra de plaquetas, pueden modificar el criterio algunos datos
que se consideran factores de riesgo de sangrado, como son:
- Anemia.
- Edad avanzada.
- Neonatos.
- Hipertensión.
- Infección grave.
- Mucositis (cavidad oral, microhemorragia intestinal o
vesical).
- Tratamiento con determinados fármacos (antibióticos/
antifúngicos).
128
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129
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 130
Transfusión de concentrados...
INDICACIONES DE CP
Trombopenias
Administración profiláctica: objetivo y umbral de transfusión.
El objetivo de la administración profiláctica de CP es el
mantenimiento de cifras de plaquetas en niveles que se con-
sideran suficientes y con la frecuencia necesaria para evitar
la hemorragia en pacientes estables sin sangrado activo.
Además de otras consideraciones ya expuestas, el umbral
numérico para establecer la indicación será el siguiente:
- Pacientes sin factores de riesgo: cifra de plaquetas de
5.000-10.000 µl en hemograma.
- Pacientes con factores de riesgo: cifra de plaquetas de
10-15.000 µl en hemograma.
- Cirugía mayor: 50.000 µl.
- Si la cirugía es en SNC u oftalmológica: 100.000 µl.
- Esplenomegalia y cirugía: transfundir mayor cantidad
de CP que habitual inmediatamente antes de la cirugía,
debido al escaso rendimiento numérico por secuestro esplé-
nico, pero considerar niveles efectivos más bajos.
130
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131
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 132
Transfusión de concentrados...
Actitud terapéutica:
- Hemorragia activa: indicación de CP hasta cese de la
hemorragia.
- Considerar transfusión de otros CS así como medidas
complementarias: compresión en zonas de sangrado accesi-
bles, cirugía en lesiones con posible actuación quirúrgica,
taponamiento nasal, enjuagues con E-aminocapróico orales,
etc.
- Indicación profiláctica: la cifra de plaquetas admitida
generalmente es de 10.000 /µl, aún cuando existen numero-
sos estudios que fijan niveles de 5.000, para pacientes estables
sin factores de riesgo descritos. Además de la valoración clíni-
ca y la cifra de palquetas, es importante considerar medidas
complementarias:
• Hb g/dl o hematocrito que debe ser de 27-30%.
• Corrección de alteraciones de coagulación: vitamina K
en deficiencias o hepatopatías o administración de PFC en
casos seleccionados.
• Corrección si posible de alteración de la función plaque-
taria (uremia, administración anfotericina B, etc.).
• Etapa de la quimioterapia en la que se encuentra el
paciente: administración más liberal en periodo de quimiote-
rapia grave y más restrictivo cuando el paciente se está recu-
perando, con cifras de granulocitos de más de 500, menor
riesgo de infección, etc.
• Presencia de anticuerpos antiplaquetarios. Si es posible
se transfundirá CP compatibles o fenotipados. Aún así, el
incremento de plaquetas post-TS no es siempre el esperado.
Si esto no es posible y se han de transfundir plaquetas no
tipadas HLA, su administración profiláctica es un tema
controvertido. Mientras unos autores indican transfusión
132
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133
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Transfusión de concentrados...
Otras causas:
- Transfusión masiva, trombopenia dilucional.
• Destrucción inmune. Autoinmune y aloinmune. En
estos procesos la causa de destrucción de las plaquetas es la
presencia de Ac frente a Ag plaquetarios. Pueden ser:
Autoanticuerpos:
- PTI, LED, síndromes linfoproliferativos, etc.
- Trombopenia inducida por heparina (TIH) en relación
con la administración del medicamento.
- Los Ac son generalmente IgG, suelen tener carácter de
panaglutinina y reaccionan con Ag presentes en todas las pla-
quetas. Por ello la eficacia de los CP transfundidos es mínima.
Actitud terapéutica:
- El tratamiento es siempre el del proceso base, reserván-
dose los CP para casos de hemorragia grave concomitante
(úlcera de estómago, amenaza de hemorragia cerebral, etc.).
Actualmente se preconiza la administración de los CP tras la
administración de una dosis de Igs IV.
- PTI. Comenzar siempre con tratamiento farmacológico
(esteroides, IgIV, inmunosupresores, pulsos de glucocor-
ticoides en dosis elevadas, CyA, anti CD 20). Los CP no
están indicados de manera profiláctica, pero pueden ser
necesarios en caso de hemorragia (digestiva, SNC).
- Esplenectomía en PTI: tener CP disponibles para casos
de hemorragia quirúrgica aunque son necesarias en raras
ocasiones; de ser así, administrarlas preferiblemente tras la
ligadura quirúrgica del pedículo esplénico.
- En caso de PTI con sangrado, se recomienda adminis-
trar los CP tras una dosis de IgS IV.
- TIH. Los CH están contraindicados. Considerar trata-
miento con hirudina y recambio plasmático.
134
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 135
Aloanticuerpos:
- Púrpura post-transfusional (PPT) y trombopenia neo-
natal inmune (TNI). Generalmente el AloAc tiene especifi-
cidad anti HPA-1a.
- Transfusional. Casos excepcionales de trombopenia en
receptores de transfusión de PFC de donantes con PTI no
detectados en el reconocimiento.
Actitud terapéutica:
- PPT. Su causa es compleja (capítulo 8). Los CP suelen
ser ineficaces con independencia de la ausencia del antígeno
implicado.
- TNI . No está demostrado fehacientemente la ventaja
de la administración profiláctica intrautero de CP. Sin
embargo, en casos concretos de riesgo de hemorragia, los
CP carentes del Ag, tanto intrautero como en el periodo
neonatal, parecen reducir la incidencia de hemorragia
intracraneal.
• Consumo plaquetario de causa no inmune. Constituyen
un grupo heterogéneo de situaciones clínicas en las que las
plaquetas son destruidas por causas diversas. Generalmente
no existen estudios randomizados y la indicación de CP, tras
la corrección de la causa que produce la destrucción plaque-
taria, es individual y debe ser valorada en cada caso.
- CID. Se transfunden con niveles inferiores a 50 x
109/l, aún cuando no hay series randomizadas para valo-
rar su eficacia.
- Trasplante hepático. En el receptor suelen existir combi-
nación en diversa proporción de trombopenia y trombopa-
tía, defectos en hemostasia secundaria e hiperfibrinolisis. La
tromboelastografía parece la prueba indicada como guía
para la indicación de CP.
135
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Transfusión de concentrados...
Trombocitopatías
Plaquetas en número normal, o casi normal, con alteraciones de
la función hemostática y en ocasiones también morfológicas.
Trombocitopatías congénitas
Bernard-Soulier, Glanzman. Indicación de CP sólo en caso de
sangrado activo, riesgo elevado o preparación para cirugía.
Trombocitopatías adquiridas
A pesar del número normal de plaquetas, puede estar indicada
la transfusión de CP en trombocitopatias con episodio de san-
grado o profilácticamente antes de cirugía programada.
136
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137
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Transfusión de concentrados...
Contraindicaciones de CP
La transfusión de CP, en principio, está contraindicada en:
- TIH, en la que actualmente puede considerarse el trata-
miento con hirudina.
- PTT y en el SUH, en estos casos pueden precipitar el
desarrollo de trombosis.
- En ambos casos considerar el recambio plasmático como
opción de tratamiento
138
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 139
Indicaciones absolutas
Tanto en el caso de deficiencia de factores procoagulantes,
como en los de anticoagulantes endógenos, proteína C, S y
139
12. Cap.7. Indicaciones 18/12/2003 14:26 Página 140
Transfusión de concentrados...
Indicaciones relativas
Son las más frecuentes en clínica y, en general, implican
defectos de coagulación con deficiencia simultánea de
varios factores. El PFC se tomará en consideración cuando
coexistan: síndrome hemorrágico y alteraciones de las prue-
bas de coagulación. Situaciones en las que pueden concurrir
estas circunstancias y que deben ser valoradas individual-
mente son:
- Coagulación intravascular diseminada.
- En los casos sobredosificación de anticoagulantes orales,
con hemorragia con riesgo vital inminente, así como los
pacientes que deben ser sometidos a procedimientos cruen-
tos con carácter de extrema urgencia, sin tiempo para la
corrección del defecto plasmático mediante actuación de vita-
mina K endovenosa (6-8 h). También puede estar indicado
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TRANSFUSIÓN DE CRIOPRECIPITADO
Al tener una composición tan específica sus indicaciones
están bien establecidas, siendo su uso principal:
- Aporte de fibrinógeno en los casos de deficiencia de
este factor en los que no se disponga de éste concentrado
inactivado, tanto en los casos de hipofibrinogenemia
(CID, tratamiento con l-asparraginasa) o déficits cualitati-
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Transfusión de concentrados...
TRANSFUSIÓN DE LEUCOCITOS
Su aplicación ha sido objeto de discusión, tanto por las
dudas acerca de su efectividad como al mejorar el trata-
miento de los pacientes neutropénicos por disponer de
nuevos y potentes antibióticos. Actualmente se han vuelto
a considerar debido, entre otros factores, a la posibilidad
de obtención de mayores cantidades de leucocitos del
donante.
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143