Granulocytapheresis Donor Deferrals Pattern at a Pediatric Tertiary Care Centre in Northern India

Granulocyte transfusion is used to manage refractory infections in patients with severe neutropenia. One of the main challenges in providing granulocyte products is the availability of a suitable donor. This study was designed to analyse deferral patterns to appropriately create a pool of granulocyte donors. A retrospective analysis was done to study the deferral pattern among donors who presented to our pediatric tertiary care hospital during the last year (August 2022-August 2023) for granulocyte apheresis. The donor selection criteria are like any apheresis donor in addition to having appropriate veins in both the arms and donor providing consent for mobilization (Dexamethasone). A total of 181 donors with a mean age of 31.3 ± 6.7 years (males 93.9%) were screened for granulocytapheresis. 61 donors (33.7%; 51 Male 10 Female) were deferred. Common reasons for deferral were poor venous access (34.4%), low platelets (24.5%), the difference in blood group between donor and recipient (19.6%), low hemoglobin (1.6%) and transfusion-transmitted infection (all HBV) reactivity (6.5%). Our study highlights a higher rate of donors deferred for granulocyte donations when compared to whole blood donations. Analysing the deferral pattern can help us identify appropriate donor groups to motivate and recruit for granulocyte donations.