who can donate platelet

[Neel]

Hi ppl,

My father's Blood group is AB+. My bood group is A+. Can i donate platelet to him ? will there be any comlication ? At what frequency can i doante my platelets to him ? i mean how many times in a month and how often ?

regrds,

Neel

[Neel]

By complication i mean complication to my father, due to mismatch blood group ?

regrds,

Neel

[Neil Cuadra]

Your father is lucky to be AB+ because that means he can receive transfusions of red blood from people with any blood type (A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, or O-).

For platelet transfusions, having a matched blood type is less important than for red blood cells, but in any case you can donate platelets for him.

How often you can donate is based on how long it takes your body to restore its platelet supply. This happens pretty fast so you can probably donate twice a month, maybe more often. The exact rules vary from country to country. You might check with the treatment center, or with a group like Rotary Blood Bank, to ask what the platelet donation rules are.

[Neil Cuadra]

Neel,

I forgot to mention that donation centers may let a relative donate more often than a stranger could. The usual rules about how often you can donate are based on ensuring maximum safety for the donor, so those rules may make people wait longer than is absolutely necessary.

When it's your own relative (like your father) getting your blood or platelets then in the United States they let you decide whether to donate more often as long as you are healthy enough to do so.

[Neel]

Thanx niel,

The doctors here only advise AB+ blood and no other group. For platelets they suggest only the AB+ donor on cell seperator machine (SDP). In case of emergency and in absence of donor of AB+, they advise other blood group platelet on cell seperator machine (SDP). The platelet concentration from the same blood group AB+ is the last resort. Are they right ?

Is platelet refectoriness anything to do with what blood type platelet is being transfused ?

My father plaetelet increase from 10000 to 37000 after transfusion of 1 SDP unit (cell seperator machine) from same blood group AB+. Is the increase less ? Cos i find it increase in plaetlet count after transfusion on very much lesser side. The first transfusion in october 2010, with same blood group AB+ (SDP ) raised his platelet from 30000 to 80000.

regrds,

neel

[Neil Cuadra]

Neel,

I would certainly follow the doctor's advice. There's a difference between which blood and platelets are compatible and which are most desirable, and that may explain it.

Platelet refractoriness means that platelet transfusions become less effective over time. This happens to some but not all patients. There are a couple of ways to reduce the risk of refractoriness. One is to use HLA-matched platelets. That's not the same as blood types, but the idea is the same: test the donor platelets for antigen matches with the patient. Another is to use single-donor platelets, meaning that the same donor keeps giving platelets to the same patient. That way the patient doesn't build up antibodies to the platelets of multiple donors.

If there are sufficient matched platelets for your father then there's no problem. But if they can't always get him the platelets he needs, make sure the doctors know that you are available to donate.