A novel, bedside technique to rapidly identify umbilical cord blood units with high total nucleated cell numbers.

Background: With increasing demand for umbilical cord blood units (CBUs) with total nucleated cell (TNC) counts of more than 150 × 10(7) , preshipping assessment is mandatory. Umbilical cord blood processing requires aseptic techniques and laboratories with specific air quality and cleanliness. Our aim was to establish a fast and efficient method for determining TNC counts at the obstetric ward without exposing the CBU to the environment.