Control of Large‐Scale Plasma Thawing for Recovery of Cryoprecipitate Factor VIII¹

Abstract

Cryoprecipitation is commonly used as the primary step in the preparation of clinical factor VIII concentrates; yet recovery is usually very low. Much of this loss is due to poor temperature control and a process of continuous plasma thawing has been designed to overcome this. A substantial improvement has resulted, with an increase in both yield and purity of factor VIII:C of over 50% in comparison to a conventional batch thaw process.

Stability of coagulation factors in thawed, solvent/detergent‐treated plasma during storage at 4 °C for 6 days

“…This fast thawing and warming process may result in a higher recovery of FVIII activity than slower thawing. The impact of the thawing process on the recovery of FVIII activity to our knowledge has not yet been shown, but, following earlier findings in studies of large‐scale thawing of plasma pools [12], we assume that faster thawing and recooling of plasma is advantageous for the protection of FVIII activity. Furthermore, the warming and recooling of plasma did not result in cryoprecipitation, which usually occurs best in during the slow thawing of frozen plasma to a temperature slightly above 0 °C.…”

Cryoprecipitate prepared from plasma treated with methylene blue plus light: increasing the fibrinogen concentration

“…The early work, on temperature fluctuations of stored plasma, was aimed at improving FVIII yield during fractionation. Foster et al (1982) noted that crushing plasma directly from À40 C resulted in the formation of cryoprecipitate, which was more difficult to process and which gave a lower recovery of FVIII than when the plasma was allowed to warm at þ4 C for several hours before crushing and thawing. Farrugia & Prowse (1985) noted that temperature changes also resulted in a significant drop in the total FVIII recovered from the plasma.…”

Heparin Small Pool High Yield Purified Factor VIII: In Vivo Recovery and Half-Life of Routinely Produced Freeze-Dried Concentrate

“…Combining the advantages of both the principle of thaw siphoning (3-6) and fast-thaw methodology (7) together with the important effects of heparin (8,9) and calcium ions (10) on FVIII preservation, have led to the development of new techniques for purifying FVIII at high yields from routine blood donations (11)(12)(13)(14).…”