Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - March 17, 2002
Nick Rogers
Lifesource Blood Services, which provides 90 percent of the Chicago area's donated blood, typically runs 13 tests, or processes, on the blood it receives. Among those is leukocyte reduction, a process of running donated blood through a filter to remove the leukocytes, or white blood cells. These cells, while critical to their host body's immune system, can contribute to postoperative infection and transfusion rejection when introduced into another body.
The process is not yet an FDA requirement, but many of the nation's blood centers practice it. Despite its widespread use, leukocyte reduction does have its critics.
"Many doctors and medical facilities question the need for leuko-reduced blood for all patients," said Don Skiba, public relations manager for Lifesource.
Leuko-reduced blood is specifically required for patients such as premature babies or those with weakened immune systems. Some doctors believe they should make case-by-case decisions as to which transfusion recipients need it.
"Because we know that leukocytes in the blood can be detrimental to some, our way of thinking is that we should take them out for everybody," said Kay Gregory, director of regulatory affairs for the American Association of Blood Banks.
Gregory said one possible reason for opposition is the higher cost of leuko-reduced blood. According to the Red Cross, there is an average increase of $30 per unit on leuko-reduced blood.
Lifesource also is leading the way locally in the more high-tech process of screening for viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) is a process that forcibly replicates any viral particles in donated blood thousands of times.
"NAT really helps to lower the window period," Skiba said, referring to the period of time between viral infection and the ability to detect the virus through conventional tests. By taking this mass-multiplication process out of the body, NAT speeds up the detection time for these viruses.
NAT is in the preliminary stage of becoming an industrywide requirement. Lifesource is one of the sites at which NAT is being tested.
"I suspect [the FDA] would try to fast-track this one," said Gregory, who typically works with regulatory agencies such as the FDA, but not on the NAT application. "But it needs to be at a point when both parties feel comfortable with the data."
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