University of Pittsburgh physician-scientists reported JAMA results from an adaptive clinical trial suggesting that refrigerated, cold-stored platelets can safely extend product availability to 21 days for patients with life-threatening bleeding. The findings challenge the conventional assumption that room-temperature platelets must govern supply for routine bleeding control. Trial outcomes indicated chilled platelets performed comparably to standard platelets for controlling active bleeding, with the main value coming from logistics: longer shelf life can reduce out-of-stock events and stabilize hospital transfusion planning. If implemented at scale, the approach could change procurement and inventory management across centers that struggle with platelet wastage and short storage windows.
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