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Thawing of fresh‐frozen plasma with a new microwave oven
Author(s) -
Söhngen D.,
Kretschmer V.,
Franke K.,
Pelzer H.,
Walker W. H.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1046/j.1537-2995.1988.28689059035.x
Subject(s) - fresh frozen plasma , chemistry , partial thromboplastin time , microwave oven , phthalate , fibrinogen , coagulation , andrology , zoology , surgery , medicine , microwave , platelet , biochemistry , biology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
In the Federal Republic of Germany fresh‐frozen plasma (FFP) is still the most important therapeutic agent for acquired coagulation disorders. However, thawing by waterbath (WB) requires about 30 minutes, which is too slow in emergency situations and carries the risk of bacterial contamination of the FFP. There are conflicting data about the use of microwaves for thawing. Therefore, we examined a new microwave oven (MWO; 2450 ± 50 MHz), which was developed with our cooperation and allows thawing of FFP in 5 minutes, heating FFP to a surface temperature of 21.5°C. A shaking WB (30 min, 37°C) was also used in parallel for comparison. We measured activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), nonactivated PTT (NaPTT), fibrinogen, factors VIII:C, X, and XI, fibrinopeptide A, β‐ thromboglobulin (β‐TG), thrombin‐AT III‐complexes, factor VIII‐ related antigen, C3c, C4, and the plasticizer di(2‐ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) in 84 units of FFP as paired samples from 42 double aphereses. Immediately after thawing there was no significant difference in the coagulation test results of FFP with low‐cell contamination, regardless of the thawing procedure. Two hours later, after storage at room temperature, FFP thawed by MWO showed even less change than that thawed by WB (NaPTT, p < 0.01; FX, p < 0.01). The differences became more evident in comparison with FFP with higher cell contamination and could be observed immediately after thawing (FVIII:C p < 0.001; FXI, p < 0.05). Reduced release of β‐TG and DEHP (p < 0.01) was further indication that the MWO preserved plasma factors under the chosen conditions even better than the WB.