What are the benefits of leucodepletion?
Leucodepletion is the removal of white blood cells from a blood component. The potential benefits of leucodepletion for patients include: • Reduction in platelet refractoriness; • Reduction in febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions; • Reduction in CMV transmission risk; • Improved chance of finding an organ transplant match if required; • Reduction in storage lesion effect; • Possible reduction in transfusion associated graft vs host disease (TA-GVHD) risk; • Possible reduction in transfusion related immunomodulatory effects, including cancer recurrence, mortality, non-transfusion transmitted infection; and • Possible reduction in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) transmission risk.
