split platelet QC

[aolario]

for those of you who performs aliquoting of platelets, do you do culture of the product quarterly (at least) as part of your Quality control ? We use  SCD to aliquot the platelet and we heat seal it when we remove it from the parent  bag.  Is it still necessary to do a  quarterly culture of the platelet as part of the QC ? Any input will be helpful.

Thanks!

[Townsend]

We do not do any culture on the product or aliquot as a part of QC when aliquotting platelets.  The original unit would have been cultured by the blood supplier.  We do document that the seal was made properly and inspected for any bubbles/leaks when making the aliquot using the sterile connection device.

Stephanie