Evaluation of factors affecting total nucleated cells in umbilical cord blood collected for the Calabria Cord Blood Bank.

Background: Total nucleated cell (TNC) count is the most important biological feature to consider in assessing the quality of umbilical cord blood (UCB) for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation. Certain obstetric factors have been reported to increase TNC count in UCB units collected for transplantation. The aim of our study was to analyze how various maternal, neonatal and obstetric factors affected TNC count in the UCBs we collected for our cord blood bank in southern Italy.

Efficacy of cord blood platelet gel application for enhancing diabetic foot ulcer healing after lower limb revascularization.

The efficacy of umbilical cord blood platelet gel (CBPG) application on healing foot ulcers was analyzed in 10 diabetic patients treated for critical lower limb ischemia by surgical or endovascular arterial revascularization. During a 9-month period, 20 diabetic patients affected by critical lower limb ischemia with tissue loss were enrolled in this nonblinded, consecutive series, randomized clinical trial. After clinical evaluation, patients underwent endovascular or surgical revascularization of the affected limb, followed by minor amputations or surgical debridement of ischemic lesions.

Tolerability and efficacy of busulfan and fludarabine as allogeneic pretransplant conditioning therapy in acute myeloid leukemia: comparison with busulfan and cyclophosphamide regimen.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare safety and efficacy of the association of busulfan with cyclophosphamide (BuCy2) versus busulfan and fludarabine (BuFlu) as a conditioning regimen in allogeneic hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation (allo-HPCT) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Patients And Methods: A total of 65 consecutive patients who received an allo-HPCT from Human Leucocyte Antigen-matched sibling donors were analyzed. The conditioning was BuCy2 in 48 patients and BuFlu in 17 patients.

The impact of early CD4+ lymphocyte recovery on the outcome of patients who undergo allogeneic bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

Background: Different factors influence the clinical outcome of allogeneic transplants, the foremost being good immune recovery.

Materials And Methods: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of different factors, such as stem cell source, type of donor, conditioning regimen and acute graft-versus-host disease, on early lymphocyte recovery after transplantation. We then analyzed the impact of early CD4+ cell count on overall survival, transplant-related mortality and disease-related mortality.