Blood plasma is the yellow
liquid component of
blood, in which the
blood cells in whole blood would normally be suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood
volume. It is mostly water (90% by volume) and contains dissolved proteins, glucose, clotting factors, mineral ions,
hormones and carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product transportation). Blood plasma is prepared by
spinning a tube of fresh blood in a
centrifuge until the blood cells fall to the bottom of the tube. The blood plasma is then poured or drawn off.
Blood plasma has a density of approximately 1025 kg/m
3, or 1.025 kg/l.
Blood serum is blood plasma without
fibrinogen or the other clotting factors (i.e., whole blood minus both the cells
and the clotting factors).
is a medical therapy that involves blood plasma extraction, treatment, and reintegration.
Fresh frozen plasma and other transfused plasmas
"Fresh frozen plasma" (FFP) is prepared from a single
unit of blood or by
apheresis, drawn from a single person. It is frozen to after collection and can be stored for ten
years from date of collection. The term "FFP" is sometimes used informally to mean any frozen transfusable plasma product, including products which do not meet the standards for FFP. FFP contains all of the coagulation factors and proteins present in the original unit of blood. It is used to treat
coagulopathies from
warfarin overdose,
liver disease, or dilutional coagulopathy. Other transfusable plasma is identical except that the coagulation factors are no longer considered completely
viable. This is particularly important for
Factor VIII and
hemophilia, but these have been mostly replaced by more specific Factor VIII concentrates in the developed world and true FFP is rarely used for that indication.
Plasma used as a source of
Cryoprecipitate (Plasma, Cryoprecipitate Reduced) cannot be used for treatment of some coagulation problems but is still acceptable for many uses.
Dried plasma
Dried plasma packages used by Britain and US military during WWII
"Dried plasma" was developed and first used in
WWII. Prior to the
United States' involvement in the war, liquid plasma and
whole blood were used. The "
Blood for Britain" program during the early 1940s was quite successful (and popular in the United States) based on Dr.
Charles Drew's contribution. A large
project was begun in August of the year 1940 to collect blood in
New York City hospitals for the export of plasma to
Britain. Dr. Drew was appointed
medical supervisor of the "Plasma for Britain" project. His notable contribution at this time was to transform the
test tube methods of many blood
researchers, including himself, into the first successful
mass production techniques.
Nonetheless, the decision was made to develop a
dried plasma package for the
armed forces as it would reduce breakage and make the transportation, packaging, and storage much simpler.
The resulting
Army-
Navy dried plasma package came in two
tin cans containing 400
cc bottles. One bottle contained enough
distilled water to completely reconstitute the dried plasma contained within the other bottle. In about three
minutes, the plasma would be ready to use and could stay fresh for around four
hours.
Following the "Plasma for Britain" invention, Dr. Drew was named
director of the
Red Cross blood bank and assistant director of the
National Research Council, in charge of blood collection for the United States Army and Navy. Dr. Drew argued against the armed forces
directive that blood/plasma was to be separated by the
race of the
donor. Dr. Drew argued that there was no racial difference in
human blood and that the
policy would lead to needless
deaths as
soldiers and
sailors were required to wait for "same race" blood.
By the end of the war the
American Red Cross had provided enough blood for over six million plasma packages. Most of the
surplus plasma was returned to the United States for
civilian use.
Serum albumin replaced dried plasma for
combat use during the
Korean War.
Composition
|
 The same information, shown in molarity rather than mass. |
See also
