EVENT ABSTRACTS
Background:
Patient Blood Management (PBM) promotes optimal patient outcomes by preserving autologous blood and minimizing allogeneic transfusions. SAME™ (i-SEP) is an innovative intraoperative cell salvage device using flow filtration to recover both red blood cells and functional platelets, unlike traditional centrifugal systems.
Methods:
Clinical data were derived from the multicentric i-TRANSEP first-in-human study and the SEPIA registry, including patients undergoing high-hemorrhagic-risk cardiac surgery. A comparative analysis was conducted between flow filtration (SAME™) and centrifugation (Xtra™) regarding platelet preservation, transfusion requirements, and postoperative biological evolution. A monocentric observational cohort (CHU Nantes, 2021–2024, n = 293) evaluated perioperative platelet count variation as the primary endpoint, with secondary endpoints including transfusions and postoperative complications.
Results:
Flow filtration demonstrated efficient recovery of viable, non-activated platelets, maintaining their activation capacity. In the SEPIA registry subset of high-risk cardiac surgeries, SAME™ significantly reduced allogeneic transfusions across blood components (−27% to −44%, p < 0.05). In the Nantes cohort, patients treated with filtration showed higher postoperative platelet counts and a trend toward reduced transfusion needs compared to centrifugation (RBC, plasma, platelets). No safety signal or increase in adverse events was observed.
Conclusion:
Intraoperative cell salvage using flow filtration appears to better preserve platelet integrity and functionality compared with centrifugation, leading to decreased transfusion exposure and supporting PBM strategies in high-risk cardiac surgery. These findings encourage further prospective multicentric studies to confirm clinical benefits and cost-effectiveness.
Professor Fadi Farhat is a distinguished thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon based at the Infirmerie Protestante in Lyon, France. With a career spanning over two decades, Professor Farhat leads the Department of Adult Cardiovascular Surgery and Heart Transplantation. In addition to his clinical expertise, he plays key administrative roles, including Regional Coordinator for the DESC specialty certificate in thoracic and cardiovascular and is a Professor of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Claude Bernard Lyon-1 University, where he also holds a PhD and a University Certificate of Medical Teaching. He is accredited to supervise research and actively contributes to the advancement of his field.
