PERIPHERAL-BLOOD STEM-CELL (PBSC) COLLECTION IN EXTREMELY LOW-WEIGHT INFANTS

While PBSC collection has become a safe procedure for adults, only a f ew reports exist about its efficacy, safety and feasibility in paediat ric patients, especially extremely low-weight infants, We describe suc cessful PBSC collection in three infants of less than 10 kg body weigh t (BW; range: 6.92-9.4 kg) suffering from stage TV neuroblastoma, Harv est of PBSC started after mobilisation with high-dose chemotherapy and G-CSF, as soon as 1.0% CD34(+) cells were detected, Collections were performed using a Baxter CS-3000 Plus separator primed with a mixture of irradiated, white cell-depleted and CMV-negative packed red cells r esuspended in 5% human albumin and diluted with saline to match the pa tient's haematocrit. Performing a median of four, (4-7, median, range) procedures we collected at least 4 x 10(8)/kg BW nucleated cells (NC) from all three patients, The infants were not sedated and showed no s erious side-effects, All three children were successfully transplanted with myeloid engraftment in 8 (7-9) days, independence from red cell support was achieved in 15 (10-20) days and from platelet transfusions in 25 (14-29) days after PBSC infusion, We conclude that PBSC harvest ing using continuous flow cell separators is safe, even in low-weight infants of less than 7 kg BW.