Dresden cord blood bank, experiences of the cord blood bank Dresden, promoted by the dkms

Background: Allogeneic bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplan tation is the treatment of choice for a number of malignant hematological d iseases, marrow failure syndromes and severe congenital immunodeficiency st ates. As a new, valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells, cord blood has become increasingly attractive to the medical community. More than 1500 re lated and unrelated cord blood transplantations have already been performed worldwide. Cord blood can be a particularly good alternative source of ste m cells for pediatric patients, if no HLA-identical donor can be found. Material and methods: In August 1997 the Cord Blood Bank at the University Hospital of Dresden initiated the collection, processing and cryopreservati on of placental blood. This Cord Blood bank is promoted by the German bone marrow donor registry DKMS in Tubingen/Germany collaborating with 8 gynecol ogical clinics in Dresden, Bautzen and Erlabrunn. Before cryopreservation, volume reduction of cord blood units is routinely performed by centrifugati on and by separation of the buffy coat. Results: As of March 2000, more than 2200 cord blood units have been collec ted. 60% of the samples had to be discarded because of insufficient quality (low volume and/or cell count, bacterial contamination, positive infectiou s disease markers). However, more than 800 cord blood units met all quality control criteria and were cryopreserved. Conclusion: These data from the Cord Blood Bank at the University Hospital of Dresden are comparable with results from other cord blood banks. Efforts directed toward the cryopreservation and banking of increased numbers of c ord blood units are being continued worldwide and should be supported by th e general public.