Effects of Prestorage vs Poststorage Leukoreduction on the Rate of Febrile Nonhemolytic Transfusion Reactions to Platelets

The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of febrile nonhemolytic transfusion reactions (FNHTRs) to concurrent transfusions of prestorage-leukoreduced (PreSLR) pooled platelets, poststorage-leukoreduced (PostSLR) pooled platelets, nonleukoreduced (NonLR) pooled platelets, and apheresis single-donor platelets (SDPs) to compare the rates of FNHTRs to PreSLR vs PostSLR pooled platelets. Reported transfusion reactions to platelets at 15 hospitals for a period of 45 months were retrospectively reviewed. Reaction rates to different types of platelet products were calculated and compared. During the study period. 70,015 platelet transfusions were administered. Among these, 152 (0.22%) FNHTRs and 111 (0.16%) allergic transfusion reactions were seen. Reported rates of FNHTRs were 0.07% (SDP), 0.16% (PreSLR), 0.30% (PostSLR), and 0.20% (NonLR) (P < .05 for PreSLR vs PostSLR). Rates of allergic reactions were 0.16% (SDP), 0.17% (PreSLR), 0.18% (PostSLR), and 0.11% (NonLR) (P > .05). The rates of reported FNHTRs were low for all types of platelet transfusions. SDPs and PreSLR pooled platelets were associated with a slightly lower rate of FNHTR compared with PostSLR pooled platelets.