The donation of plasma
The plasma collected in Italy comes from voluntary, regular, responsible, anonymous and unpaid donations.
Blood is composed of a fluid part called plasma and a
corpuscular part including several types of cells and cell
fragments.
The volume percentage of plasma is around 54-58% of the
whole blood. The remaining 42-46 % called haematocrit is
composed of cellular elements.
Plasma can be obtained by the separation of the blood and
through a single donation procedure called “plasmapheresis”.
Donating blood
A blood donation takes on average 10 minutes. Each blood
donation collects 450 ml of blood that will be later centrifuged.
The centrifuge enables the separation of the corpuscular part
from the liquid one obtaining blood components for transfusion
(red blood cells, platelets and plasma).
Donating plasma
The donation of plasma as a single blood component is carried
out through a specific equipment (plasmapheresis machine)
that immediately separates the corpuscular part from plasma.
The volume of a single donation ranges from 600 to 700 ml.
The corpuscular part is re-infused to the donor and the liquid
lost during the donation will be reconstituted by natural
mechanisms of recovery, physiological saline infusions and
fluid intakes.
The donation of plasma is important!
There are no first or second class donations.
Blood therapies
In Italy, about 1,700,000 voluntary blood and plasma donors allow daily blood therapies to patients throughout the country.
The choice
The choice of donating plasma depends on the characteristics of the donor and on the therapeutic needs.
Frequency of donation
With a plasmapheresis donation, between 600 and 700 ml of plasma are sampled. The time between twoplasma donations shall not be less than 14 days. It is possible to donate up to 12 litres of plasma annually.
50 minutes
The procedure takes about 50 minutes.
Safe donation
The donation of blood or plasma is completely safe for the donor’s health.
Liquids loss
The lost volume of liquid will be reintegrated in the donor through fluid intakes before and after the sampling.
Blood composition
Blood is mainly composed of plasma (about 55%) that is
its liquid part, red blood cells (about 41%) and the
remaining part of white blood cells and platelets (only 4%).
Plasma composition
Plasma is mainly composed of water (about 92%) and
several important proteins (8%), including albumin,
immunoglobulins, coagulation factors, etc.
The donation of plasma plays a fundamental role in the treatment of many chronic diseases, including several rare diseases.
Many genetic disorders can be treated only through the administration of plasma or of active substances coming from it.
Coagulation factors
They are used for the treatment of haemophilia and other congenital haemorrhagic disorders.
Immunoglobulins
They are used for the treatment of primitive immunodeficiencies and of many neurological disorders.
The congenital deficiencies of Alpha1-Antitrypsin, Antithrombin, C1 inhibitor, plasminogen are other
examples of rare pathologies benefiting from these medicinal products.
Plan your donation
In order to donate plasma, it is important to arrange the donation with the Associations (AVIS, Red Cross, FRATRES, FIDAS) on the basis of the regional and national planning.