Cold and Room-Temperature Platelets in Cardiac Surgery: The CHIPS Randomized Clinical Trial.

Cold-stored platelets stored up to 21 days are noninferior to room-temperature platelets for hemostatic efficacy in cardiac surgery patients.

• Why it matters: Effective platelet transfusions are critical for controlling bleeding during cardiac surgery, but current storage practices limit platelet shelf life, risking shortages and wastage.
• What they did: A phase 3 multicenter trial randomized 989 patients to receive cold-stored platelets (up to 21 days) or room-temperature platelets (up to 7 days), assessing hemostatic efficacy and bleeding outcomes.
• The result: Cold-stored platelets demonstrated a greater than 99.9% probability of noninferiority across storage durations, with similar bleeding control and no significant differences in adverse events, enabling extended storage options.