[The Italian Registry of Bone Marrow Donors].

Following a synthetic statement of the scientific, genetic and practical assumptions of the bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from marrow unrelated donor (MUD), which, in turn, have represented the basis for the establishment of the Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (IBMDR), the paper reports the registry activity on 30 November 1998. At that date, Italian volunteers were 232,876, number which put the IBMDR as the fourth registry all over the world and as the third in Europe. The mean age of the donors is 34 years, and this means that IBMDR is one of the youngest among international registries. Using Italian donors, 426 BMT, altogether, have been performed, (248 for Italian patients and 178 for foreign patients). Donor search activations performed by national and international transplant centres have been, at the same date, 5729 (1821 for Italian patients and 3908 for foreign patients). Operating standards and guidelines for all centres participating in the IBMDR are reported in this issue.