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A novel, bedside technique to rapidly identify umbilical cord blood units with high total nucleated cell numbers
Author(s) -
Wagner Anna Margareta,
Krenger Werner,
Stettler Shamsiya,
Beutler Elke,
Herbst Judith,
Surbek Daniel V.,
Baerlocher Gabriela M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1111/trf.13610
Subject(s) - umbilical cord , cord blood , medicine , cord , andrology , blood units , surgery , immunology , blood transfusion
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. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Data from a total of 151 cord blood donations at a single procurement site were included in this prospective study. We measured TNC counts in cord blood aliquots taken from the umbilical cord (TNC Cord ), from placenta (TNC Plac ), and from a tubing segment of the sterile collection system (TNC TS ). TNC counts were compared to reference TNC counts in the CBU which were ascertained at the cord blood bank (TNC CBU ). RESULTS TNC TS counts (173 ± 33 × 10 7 cells; calculated for 1 unit) correlated fully with the TNC CBU reference counts (166 ± 33 × 10 7 cells, Pearson's r = 0.97, p < 0.0001). In contrast, TNC Cord and TNC Plac counts were more disparate from the reference (r = 0.92 and r = 0.87, respectively). CONCLUSIONS A novel method of measuring TNC counts in tubing segments from the sterile cord blood collection system allows rapid and correct identification of CBUs with high cell numbers at the obstetric ward without exposing cells to the environment. This approach may contribute to cost efficacy as only CBUs with satisfactory TNC counts need to be shipped to the cord blood bank.