The plasma collected in Italy derives from voluntary, regular, responsible, anonymous and unpaid donations.
It is possible to donate blood and single blood components such as: plasma.
Blood is made up of a fluid part called plasma, and a corpuscular one including several types of cells and cell fragments. The volume percentage of plasma is around 54-58% out of the whole blood. The remaining 42-46%, called “haematocrit”, is made up of red and white blood cells and platelets.
Plasma can be obtained in two ways, by separating it from whole blood or through a single donation procedure called “plasmapheresis”.
Donating whole blood
A blood donation on average takes about 10 minutes. In each blood donation 450 ml of blood are collected. This is then centrifuged, as through centrifugation, the corpuscular part is set apart from the liquid one, so that all the blood components for transfusion purposes – red blood cells, platelets and plasma – can be collected.
Donating plasma
The donation of plasma as a single blood component is carried out using a specific device (the plasmapheresis machine), which separates at once the corpuscular part from the plasma.
The volume of a single donation ranges between 600 and 700 ml. The corpuscular part is re-infused into the donor, while the volume of fluid lost during the donation is to be replenished through natural recovery mechanisms, physiological saline infusion and fluid intake.
Donating whole blood
A blood donation on average takes about 10 minutes. In each blood donation 450 ml of blood are collected. This is then centrifuged, as through centrifugation, the corpuscular part is set apart from the liquid one, so that all the blood components for transfusion purposes – red blood cells, platelets and plasma – can be collected.
Donating plasma
The donation of plasma as a single blood component is carried out using a specific device (the plasmapheresis machine), which separates at once the corpuscular part from the plasma. The volume of a single donation ranges between 600 and 700 ml. The corpuscular part is re-infused into the donor, while the volume of fluid lost during the donation is to be replenished through natural recovery mechanisms, physiological saline infusion and fluid intake.
The choice
The choice of donating plasma depends on the characteristics of the donor and on the therapeutic needs.
Frequency of donation
Through plasmapheresis donation, between 600 and 700 ml of plasma are collected. At least 14 days must elapse between one plasma donation and another. It is possible to donate up to 12 litres of plasma annually.
50 minutes
The whole procedure takes about 50 minutes.
Safe donation
Blood and/or plasma donation is absolutely safe, with no risk to the donor’s health.
Loss of fluid
The volume of the lost fluid is replenished in the donor through some fluid intake before and after the collection.
Whole blood composition
Blood is mainly made up of plasma (the liquid part, about 55%), red blood cells (about 41%), and white blood cells together with platelets (only 4%).
Plasma composition
Plasma is mainly made up of water (about 92%), while the remaining 8% contains several important proteins, including albumin, immunoglobulins, and coagulation factors, as well as other molecules such as mineral salts.
Plasma donation plays a vital role in the treatment of many chronic and/or rare diseases.
Many genetic disorders are only treated through the administration of plasma or other derived active substances.
Coagulation factors
Coagulation factors are used in the treatment of haemophilia and other congenital bleeding disorders.
Immunoglobulins
Immunoglobulins are used in the treatment of primary immunodeficiencies and of many neurological disorders.
The congenital deficiencies of Alpha1-Antitrypsin, Antithrombin, C1 inhibitor, and plasminogen, are other examples of rare pathologies benefitting from these medicinal products.
Plan your donation
To donate plasma you must arrange your donation with a Blood Establishment or one of the donor Associations (AVIS, Red Cross, FRATRES, FIDAS) according to the regional and national planning system.
