The Benefits of ABO Identical Platelets

The reason we care about the ABO compatibility of a platelet is not so much the platelet itself, but the antibodies that the patient could have. They could destroy that not from HLA antibodies, but from anti-A antibodies because platelets express A and B antigens. So basically, you get to the answer more rapidly, and you shortcut some of the hoops that we have traditionally made people jump through. And if the answer is no, for a very reasonable price, I am able to tell the clinicians, no, your patient does not have HLA antibodies,. We will continue to issue random platelets.