Automated bone marrow processing with the blood cell separator

Whang, Dong Hee; Kim, Yang Hyun; Kim, Byoung Kook; Park, Seonyang; Ahn, Hyo Seop; Han, Kyou Sup

Abstract

BACKGROUDNS: Concentration of bone marrow aspirates is an important prerequisite prior to infusion of ABO incompatible allogeneic marrow and prior to cryopreservation and storage of autologous marrow. We describe our experience in processing 39 bone marrow aspirates harvested for autologous and ABO incompatible allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) using the blood cell separator, and analyzed removal rates of the red blood cells and recovery rates of the mononuclear cells.
METHODS
Between September 1992 and July 1998, 39 bone marrow aspirates were processed using CS3000 Plus (38/39) and COBE Spectra (1/39) cell separators. Among 39 bone marrow harvests, 25 cases were for autologous BMT and 14 cases were for allogeneic BMT with ABO incompatibility. Initial bone marrow and final bone marrow concentration product were analyzed for volume, hematocrit, WBC and mononuclear cell count by manual differential count.
RESULTS
Within 60-120 min (mean 81 min), the initial marrow volume 1212 mL (+/-205 mL) was processed. A mean of 31.9% (+/-13.4%) of the initial nucleated cells and 70.1% (+/-27.0%) of initial mononuclear cells was recovered in a mean volume of 214 mL (+/-17 mL). This procedure effectively removed 97% of the red cells and 81% of the granulocytes.
CONCLUSIONS
We concluded that automated bone marrow processing with the blood cell separator was an effective method for collecting mononuclear cells while removing red blood cells, granulocytes, and plasma.