Influence of maternal, infant, and collection characteristics on high-quality cord blood units in Guangzhou Cord Blood Bank.

BACKGROUND

The operation of cord blood banks (CBBs) requires immense labor, material, and financial resources. Thus, increasing the ratio of high-quality cord blood units (HQCBUs) in storage that are qualified for clinical use is critical for the efficient use of limited resources. Understanding the factors that contribute to HQCBUs, including maternal, fetal, and processing conditions, may improve the number of HQCBUs in storage.

STUDY DESIGN AND

METHODS

The maternal, fetal, and processing conditions of 4613 CBUs at the Guangzhou Cord Blood Bank were analyzed retrospectively to determine their effect on HQCBUs. All CBUs were obtained following strict standard operation procedures.

RESULTS

Several factors may contribute to HQCBUs: fetal age older than 37 gestational weeks, female fetus, large cord blood (CB) volume (>80 mL), high birthweight (>3500 g), vaginal delivery, and a shorter amount of time between CB collection and processing (12 hr). We report for the first time that α-thalassemia carriers exhibit a postprocessing total nucleated cell count (p-TNCC) increase to at least 1.25 × 10(9) and an increase of the CD34+ cell count to at least 6.01 × 10(6) . Meconium-stained amniotic fluid and mothers younger than 25 years of age exhibited increased p-TNCC to at least 1.25 × 10(9) , and colony-forming units increased to at least 23.24 × 10(5) .

CONCLUSIONS

We identified several factors that affect HQCBUs. These results may be used as a reference for updating CB collection strategies, with priority given to collecting CBUs from female fetuses older than 37 gestational weeks, at high birthweight, and born by vaginal delivery from mothers younger than 25 years of age, especially newborns with one parent carrying the trait or with meconium-stained amniotic fluid. The collected CBUs should be sent to the laboratory as soon as possible for priority processing, which will help to increase the number and ratio of HQCBUs and the effective use of CBB resources.