Treatment of congenital afibrinogenemia with cryoprecipitate collected through a plasmapheresis program using dedicated donors

A child with afibrinogenemia was evaluated for prophylactic cryoprecipitate transfusion due to recurrent episodes of traumatic bleeding. The parents would only consider ongoing transfusion therapy if a limited donor program could be established. Automated plasmapheresis was performed on a regular basis on the patient's parents and a limited number of selected donors. Studies on the initial units collected demonstrated that a single 500 mL plasmapheresis yielded a mean of 606 mg fibrinogen in the cryoprecipitate, which was stored in two bags. A total of 166 U of cryoprecipitate from 84 individual plasmapheresis donations were transfused prophylactically every 2–3 weeks over a 16‐month period. Compared to transfusions from random donors, the use of a limited number of apheresis donors resulted in a donor exposure reduction of 87%. Clinically, the patient has had minimal bleeding during this period. J. Clin. Apheresis 13:143–145, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.