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 | Cord blood banking is the storage and preservation of cord blood at a facility and used for treatment of certain types of hemolytic, metabolic and immunologic diseases. Cord blood can be donated to a public bank for use by anyone in need or can be banked privately for family use. If you have decided to store your baby's cord blood, be sure to notify your chosen cord blood bank (this includes private or public banks) as soon as possible, ideally before your 34th week of pregnancy. |
There are three main types of transplants: autologous, syngeneic, and allogeneic.
- Autologous transplantation refers to using one’s own stem cells therefore eliminating the risk of graft-verses-host-disease (GVHD). Graft-verses-host-disease occurs when the donor's immune cells recognize the transplant recipient's cells as "foreign" and attack the recipient's body. Autologous stem cells are normally not used for the donor since the donated blood contains the same defect/condition that the donor is suffering from.
- Syngeneic transplantation refers to using the stem cells from an identical twin which provides a perfect human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match and eliminates the risk of GVHD. HLA typing is used to match donor and recipient cells as close to each other as possible to reduce the likelihood that the donor cells will attack the recipient's body (or vice-versa).
- Allogeneic transplantation refers to using donor stem cells from a sibling, family member or an unrelated donor. This is the most common type of stem cell transplantation presently used.
How is Cord Blood Collected? Find out...
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| What Is Cordblood Banking? |
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American Academy of Pediatrics- Section on Hematology/Oncology and Section on Allergy/Immunology. Cord Blood Banking for Potential Future Transplantation. PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 1 January 2007, pp. 165-170.
National Marrow Donor Program. Cord Blood Donation: Frequently Asked Questions
Powell, J. et al. Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Human Leukocyte Antigen Matching
Author : Diba Tillery RN, BSN, IBCLC, CPST
