Recruiting
Phase 2
Phase 3

Autologous Platelets

Sponsor:

University Health Network, Toronto

Code:

NCT07064954

Conditions

Bleeding

Platelets

Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Cardiac Surgery

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Autologous Cold-Stored Platelets

Allogeneic Room Temperature-Stored Platelets (Standard of Care)

Study Details

Brief summary:

The Auto-PLTS Study is a single-centre trial performed at Toronto General Hospital (TGH) that uses a randomized, patient preference design. The recent introduction of cold-stored platelets with a shelf-life of 14 days into clinical practice has made it possible to offer autologous apheresis platelet predonation to patients undergoing elective cardiac (and other high-blood-loss) surgeries while allowing sufficient time to recover platelet count before surgery. The Auto-PLTS Study is designed to assess whether replacing allogeneic platelets with autologous platelets will improve patient outcomes and benefit the healthcare system by reducing the burden on allogeneic platelet supply. The study is also designed to determine whether patients are willing to donate autologous platelets 7-10 days prior to surgery.

Conditions

Bleeding

Platelets

Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Cardiac Surgery

Study ID

NCT07064954

Start date

Sep 28, 2026

Status verified date

Sep, 2026

Completion date

Apr 30, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

Adult (≥18 years old) patients who meet all following criteria:

1\. Undergoing elective complex cardiac surgery consisting of at least one of the following:

  • Repair or replacement of more than one valve (i.e., multiple valves)
  • Repair or replacement of any segment of aortic arch
  • At least two of any combination of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), valve repair/replacement, or aorta (ascending/arch) repair/replacement
  • Complex adult congenital repair

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients who meet any of the following criteria are not eligible for the study:

1. Seven days or less from recruitment to surgery (as there will not be sufficient time from platelet donation to surgery for patients to recover their platelet count)
2. Patient factors that preclude platelet donation or increase risk of adverse events after donation, including any of the following:

  • Poor intravenous access
  • Low baseline platelet count (≤150,000 x106/L)
  • Low baseline hemoglobin (<100 g/L) (since approximately 50 mL of red blood cells are lost with each unit of apheresis platelet collection)
  • Inability to tolerate fluid shifts during donation (i.e., severe aortic stenosis with valve area <0.7 cm2, or left main coronary artery stenosis >80%, or left ventricular ejection fraction <30%)
  • Increased risk of bacterial contamination of collected units (i.e., active infection, on antibiotics, dental procedure <72 hours before donation)
  • Attending clinicians deem the patient ineligible for autologous predonation
  • Known positivity for active infectious blood-borne disease (HIV, HCV, HBV, HTLV, Syphilis)
3. Highly specialized procedures such as insertion or removal of ventricular assist devices or repair of thoracoabdominal aneurysm
4. Any history of congenital or acquired bleeding disorder (including any type of thrombocytopenia or platelet refractoriness due to anti-platelet and anti-HLA antibodies or requirement for specially matched platelets)
5. On any anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications, excluding ASA, that cannot be stopped at least 7 days before donation (72 hours for NSAIDs)
6. Refusal of allogeneic blood products due to religious or other reasons
7. Known or suspected pregnancy

Study Design

Enrollment

100 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Intervention Group

Patients in the intervention group will undergo autologous collection of 2 units of apheresis platelets 7-10 days before surgery. The collected autologous platelets will be cold-stored at 1-6°C until the time of surgery. Patients will receive their own autologous platelets during or after surgery in response to excessive bleeding in the setting of low platelet count or function.

active comparator: Control Group

Patients in the control group will receive standard, Health Canada approved, allogeneic platelets supplied by the Canadian Blood Services (stored at room temperature for up to 7 days) during or after surgery in response to excessive bleeding in the setting of low platelet count or function.

Interventions

Autologous Cold-Stored Platelets

Two units of autologous platelets will be collected via an apheresis machine that draws blood from an intravenous (IV) line over 1-2 hours, isolates and leukoreduces the platelets by centrifugation and returns the remaining blood back to the patients. Collected autologous platelets will be stored at 1-6℃ without agitation until they are needed during or after surgery or 14 days have elapsed since their collection, after which they will be destroyed as per standard institutional procedures for expired blood products. For the first two platelet orders within 24 hours of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) termination, patients will receive their autologous cold-stored platelets. For the third and subsequent doses, patients in the intervention group will receive allogeneic room temperature-stored platelets (standard of care).

Allogeneic Room Temperature-Stored Platelets (Standard of Care)

Allogeneic platelets will be collected by Canadian Blood Services as per their standard operating procedures. Room temperature stored platelets will be stored at 20-24°C with constant agitation for up to 7 days as per current practices. For any platelet orders within 24 hours of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) termination, patients in the control group will receive allogeneic platelets as per usual care.

Primary outcome measure

  • Primary Efficacy Endpoint [ Time Frame: up to 24 hours after termination of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Keyvan Karkouti, MD

416-340-4800ACTU@uhn.ca

Deep Grewal

416-340-4800ACTU@uhn.ca

Locations

Toronto General Hospital - University Health Network

Recruiting

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2C4

Contacts

Justyna Bartoszko, MD MSc FRCPC

(416) 340-4800Justyna.Bartoszko@uhn.ca

Principal Investigator:

Justyna Bartoszko, MD MSc FRCPC

More Information

Sponsor

University Health Network, Toronto

Last update posted

Oct 5, 2026

Last verified

Sep, 2026

Keywords

  • Autologous Blood Donation

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-06. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University Health Network, Toronto on 2026-10-05. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.