A new method for the preparation of platelet concentrates (PCs) is described. The source material is buffy coat (BC), prepared after keeping standard CPD whole-blood units at room temperature for 6-12 h, followed by centrifugation at 3,500 rpm for 10 min (first series) or 4,000 rpm for 12.5 min (second series). BC, separated from plasma and red cells, was kept at room temperature for a further 8-12 h without agitation. Pools of 6 (first series) and 4 (second series) BCs were prepared using a sterile docking device and suspended in a platelet-additive solution (PAS) containing sodium/potassium chloride, citrate, phosphate, and mannitol. After gentle centrifugation, the platelet-rich supernatant was expressed to and stored in one (first series) or two (second series) 1-liter polyolefine (PL-732) containers. In the first series, the total number of platelets was 316 +/- 59 x 10(9) per PC (yield 65%). However, when the method was applied at a routine scale, the yield varied considerably and was shown to be strongly dependent on the hematocrit of the BCs. A number of steps were taken to standardize the technique which resulted in an improved yield (77.3 +/- 8.7%) with 316 +/- 52 x 10(9) platelets (mean +/- SD, range 203-490, n = 134), obtained from 4 BC pools and lower leukocyte contamination than before, 18 +/- 17 X 10(6) per preparation (range 1-73, microscopic counting, n = 38). The storage medium consisted of a mixture of plasma and PAS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)