What is the Difference Between Fresh Frozen Plasma and Cryoprecipitate

The key difference between fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate is that fresh frozen plasma is prepared by removing the plasma from whole blood and placing it at 18 °C within 8 hours of the collection, while cryoprecipitate is prepared by thawing fresh frozen plasma at 1–6 °C and then centrifuging and collecting the precipitate.

Fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate are two blood components made from blood plasma. Plasma is a yellow liquid that carries red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Blood plasma also contains vital proteins known as clotting factors that help control bleeding. Moreover, clotting factors work together closely with platelets to manage blood clots effectively. Fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate can be used when there are blood diseases such as problems in clotting.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Fresh Frozen Plasma
3. What is Cryoprecipitate
4. Similarities – Fresh Frozen Plasma and Cryoprecipitate
5. Fresh Frozen Plasma vs Cryoprecipitate in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Fresh Frozen Plasma vs Cryoprecipitate

What is Fresh Frozen Plasma?

Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is a blood component or product made from the liquid portion of whole blood. Fresh frozen plasma is prepared by removing the plasma from whole blood and placing it at 18°C within 8 hours of collection. FFP is generally used to treat conditions in which there are low blood-clotting factors or low levels of other blood proteins. FFP can also be used as the replacement fluid in plasma exchange. Therefore, it is used in the replacement of isolated factor deficiencies, reversal of warfarin effect, antithrombin III deficiency, and the treatment of immunodeficiencies and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. However, FFP is not recommended unless there is an ongoing bleeding problem or there is a significant blood clotting problem. It is normally given by slow injection into the vein.

Side effects of using FFP include nausea, itchiness, allergic reactions, blood clots, or infections. Fresh frozen plasma is made up of a mixture of water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins. When this mixture is frozen, it lasts for about one year. Furthermore, it is also on the List of Essential medicines of the World Health Organization. In the United Kingdom, it costs about £30 per unit.

What is Cryoprecipitate?

Cryoprecipitate is prepared by thawing fresh frozen plasma at 1–6 °C and then centrifuging and collecting the precipitate. Later, this precipitate is resuspended in a small amount of residual plasma and then refrozen for storage. Cryoprecipitate is often transfused to adults as two 5 unit pools. One of the most important components of cryoprecipitate is factor VII.

Medical uses of cryoprecipitate include haemophilia, von Willebrand disease, hypofibrinogenaemia, afibrinogenaemia, bleeding from excessive anticoagulation, massive haemorrhage, disseminated intravascular coagulation, uremic bleeding tendency, and reversing tpa. Furthermore, the side effects may include hemolytic transfusion reactions, febrile non haemolytic reactions, allergic reactions, septic reactions, transfusion-related acute lung injury, circulatory overload, transfusion-associated graft versus host disease, and post-transfusion purpura.

What are the Similarities Between Fresh Frozen Plasma and Cryoprecipitate?

• Fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate are two blood components made from blood plasma.
• Both are yellow in color.
• They contain fibrinogen.
• It takes 30 minutes to prepare both blood components.
• Both blood components have a similar cost.
• Fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate can be used when there are blood diseases such as problems in clotting.

What is the Difference Between Fresh Frozen Plasma and Cryoprecipitate?

Fresh frozen plasma is prepared by removing the plasma from whole blood and placing it at 18°C within 8 hours of the collection while cryoprecipitate is prepared by thawing fresh frozen plasma at 1–6 °C, then centrifuging and collecting the precipitate. Thus, this is the key difference between fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate. Furthermore, fresh frozen plasma is a less concentrated source of fibrinogen compared to cryoprecipitate, while cryoprecipitate is a highly concentrated source of fibrinogen compared to fresh frozen plasma.

The below infographic presents the differences between fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Fresh Frozen Plasma vs Cryoprecipitate

Fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate are two blood products made from blood plasma. Fresh frozen plasma is prepared by removing the plasma from whole blood and placing it at 18°C within 8 hours of collection. Cryoprecipitate is prepared by thawing fresh frozen plasma at 1–6 °C, centrifuging and collecting the precipitate. So, this summarizes the difference between fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate.

Reference:

1. “Fresh Frozen Plasma.” An Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, .
2. “Cryoprecipitate.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.

Image Courtesy:

1. “FreshFrozenPlasma” By DiverDave – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Bottles of factor viii haemophilia treatment” By JJEv810 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia