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Prevalence and Consistency of ALT Elevation in Plasmapheresis Donors: Implications for the Assessment of Blood Product Infectivity
Author(s) -
Picken M.,
Gillon J.,
Prowse C.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.1423-0410.1993.tb02149.x
Subject(s) - infectivity , plasmapheresis , medicine , alanine aminotransferase , allowance (engineering) , blood product , immunology , surgery , virus , antibody , mechanical engineering , engineering
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were determined in 8,420 plasmapheresis donations obtained from 431 donors over a period of 18 months. Using sex‐differentiated normal ranges 2.5% of donations but 23% of donors exhibited elevated ALT levels on at least 1 occasion. Amongst the donors with elevated ALT this was only seen on 1 occasion in one third, while a quarter had elevations in consecutive donations. No donors with consecutive elevations above 100IU/1 were detected. The results are discussed in terms of the guidelines currently recommended for assessing post‐transfusion hepatitis infectivity of blood products, such as factor VIII. It is concluded that the current allowance for infection acquired from sources other than blood products under consideration may be over‐generous, leading to a potential underestimate of the true rate of infection.