How transplant centers deal with the dextran shortage: recommendations for comparing alternatives.

Background: In the United States, dextran 40 in 0.9% NaCl is the preferred reagent for the thawing and preparation of cord blood units for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The recurring nationwide shortage of this reagent could have implications that extend to the avoidance of cord blood for transplantation.

Cord Blood Banking Standards: Autologous Versus Altruistic.

Cord blood (CB) is either donated to public CB banks for use by any patient worldwide for whom it is a match or stored in a private bank for potential autologous or family use. It is a unique cell product that has potential for treating life-threatening diseases. The majority of CB products used today are for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and are accessed from public banks.

Novel Techniques for Ex Vivo Expansion of Cord Blood: Clinical Trials.

Cord blood (CB) provides an excellent alternative source of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) for patients lacking human leukocyte antigen-matched peripheral blood or bone marrow graft for transplantation. However, due to the limited cell dose in CB graft, it is associated with prolonged time to engraftment, risk of graft rejection, infections, and treatment-related mortality. To increase the cell dose, a variety of ex vivo expansion techniques have been developed.

Progress toward curing HIV infection with hematopoietic cell transplantation.

HIV-1 infection afflicts more than 35 million people worldwide, according to 2014 estimates from the World Health Organization. For those individuals who have access to antiretroviral therapy, these drugs can effectively suppress, but not cure, HIV-1 infection. Indeed, the only documented case for an HIV/AIDS cure was a patient with HIV-1 and acute myeloid leukemia who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from a graft that carried the HIV-resistant CCR5-∆32/∆32 mutation.

Cryopreservation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells for therapeutic use.

To date, more than 25,000 hematopoietic transplants have been carried out across Europe for hematological disorders, the majority being for hematological malignancies. At least 70% of these are autologous transplants, the remaining 30% being allogeneic, which are sourced from related (70% of the allogeneic) or unrelated donors. Peripheral blood mobilized with granulocyte colony stimulating factor is the major source of stem cells for transplantation, being used in approx 95% of autologous transplants and in approx 65% of allogeneic transplants.

Directed sibling cord blood banking for transplantation: the 10-year experience in the national blood service in England.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an important source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation. Although UCB is often collected from unrelated donors, directed umbilical cord blood (DCB) from sibling donors also provides an important source of UCB for transplantation. This report summarizes the experience in collection, testing, storage, and transplantation of DCB units by the National Blood Service for England and North Wales over 10 years.

Nurses' understanding of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is considered to be an important health care issue world wide. In order to provide appropriate support and treatment to women who have been abused, it is essential that nurses understand and recognise domestic violence. This study aimed to explore nurses' understanding of domestic violence issues utilising a grounded theory approach.

Cord blood banking.

Cord blood (CB) is a unique product, rich in haemopoietic stem cells (HSC), that is currently used in the transplantation setting to restore haemopoiesis. It restores haemopoietic stem cell function in patients suffering from malignancies, bone marrow (BM) failure disorders and inherited metabolic and immunological disorders. Related and unrelated CB donations have been successfully transplanted in both the paediatric and adult settings.

The London Cord Blood Bank: analysis of banking and transplantation outcome.

Cord blood units (n = 5500) stored at the London Cord Blood Bank, including 59 units transplanted into a high risk and heterogeneous group of patients, were analysed. Transplant outcome data was available for 44 patients with a median clinical follow-up of 14 months (range 3-44 months). Over 40% of the collected units were of ethnic minority origin with a median volume of 79 ml (range 40-240 ml) and a median total nucleated cell (TNC) count of 11.