The assessment of platelet function by thromboelastometry as a point‐of‐care test to guide Intercept‐treated platelet support in hemato‐oncological patients and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients

BACKGROUND: Pathogen inactivation (PI) techniques for platelet concentrates (PCs) are one of the latest innovations to improve blood safety and reduce the risk of transfusion‐transmitted infections (TTIs). An impaired function and in vivo recovery of platelets as well as an increased PC demand are concerns regarding these techniques. The intent of this study was to evaluate the hemostatic effect of PCs treated with the Intercept™ System by thromboelastometry (TEM) and to assess the clinical validity of its results in comparison to post‐transfusion increase (PTI) and corrected count increment (CCI). STUDY‐DESIGN AND METHODS: This prospective‐observational study included 47 patients (m:f = 25:22; median age: 54 years [21‐70]) of our Bone Marrow Transplantation unit with hemato‐oncological malignancies transfused with Intercept™‐treated PCs. Serial TEM measurements were performed just before and 1 hour after PC transfusion and were analyzed for their correlation with PTI and CCI as well as for clinical variables. RESULTS: The majority of our patients had received a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) (n = 41; 87%). In median 9 (1‐50) PCs were transfused. Serial TEM, PTI, and CCI measurements were available for 150 transfusion episodes. The median platelet dose transfused was 2.65 × 10(11)/unit (1.8‐6). The median CCI was 9.250 (0‐28.000). We observed a significant improvement in TEM parameters (p < 0.05) after transfusion of PI PCs, which did not mandatory correlate with the 1‐hour PTI and CCI. CONCLUSION: Serial TEM measurements indicate the hemostatic effect of Intercept™‐treated PCs. The 1‐hour PTI and CCI may not appropriately reflect the in vivo function of platelets after PI PC transfusion.