CORD BLOOD BANKING

INTRODUCTION:
Cord blood banking is the process of collecting the blood from a newborns umbilical cord immediately after delivery, and then testing, processing and cryogenically storing the necessary blood components. The preservation of newborn's stem cells, which allows to have the baby's cord blood saved for potential medical uses to treat life-threatening diseases.

USES OF CORD BLOOD

cord blood cells are the major source of hematopoietic stem cells and mostly used to regenerate a patients blood and immune system that have been weakened or damaged by radiation or chemotherapy. stem cell transplantation has been used to treat more than 70 malignant and non malignant diseases in children and adults.

STEPS IN BANKING
Enrollment Take the Collection Kit to the Hospital Collection   Bag method Syringe method

Return Shipping Processing Testing Storage

1. Enrollment: Fill out our online enrollment form or download the enrollment packet. A 150$ deposit is due at the time of enrollment inorder to cover the cost of enrollment &the collection kit. If you fax your enrolment form please mail us the the signed originals. We recommend that you enroll atleast 4 weeks before your due date.

2.Take the Cord Blood Collection Kit to the Hospital Keep the collection kit with the hospital luggage as a reminder to bring the collection kit with you to the hospital. Your baby s cord blood collection kit contains everything the childbirth professional will need for the collection along with detailed instructions.

3.Cord Blood Collection: Cord blood collection is simple and poses no risk to baby. Immediately after the baby s delivery, the umbilical cord is clamped and the baby is separated from the cord. At this point, the needle attached to the collection bag is inserted into the vein in the umbilical cord. The placental blood/umbilical cord blood, drawn by gravity, then flows into the collection bag. The bag comes equipped with an anti-coagulant to keep the blood from clotting before it reaches our laboratory

Syringe method: a syringe is used to draw blood from the umbilical cord shortly after the umbilical cord
has been cut. The process is basically the same as drawing blood for a blood test.

Bag method: the umbilical cord is elevated to cause the blood to drain into a bag.
The syringe or bag should be pre-labeled with a unique number that represents your baby. Cord blood may only be collected during the first 15 minutes following the birth, and should be processed by the laboratory within 48 hours. 4.Shipping Of Cord Blood: This ensures that the cord blood unit is kept at the proper temperature and pressure during transport and delivered to the laboratory within 48 hours. On the way to the hospital, inform the bank that you are about to deliver. The bank will then arrange for a medical courier to pick up the sample and deliver it to the lab within 48 hours. The kit is shipped once the cord blood has been collected, safely sealed and packed.

5.Testing Once the cord blood unit reaches the lab, samples from the unit are sent for bacterial culture and blood grouping. The maternal blood is also tested for transmissible diseases such as HIV and Leptospirosis.

6.Processing Of Cord Blood After the screening, the remaining cord blood undergoes processing in two stages,  volume-reduction and  separation to isolate stem cells. . a).Volume reduction: It can be accomplished by spinning in a centrifuge. To process the cord blood, a chemical called "Hespan Starch" Hespan solution facilitates the separation of red cells from the mononuclear white cells during centrifugation. The blood components are separated so that:  Red cells are at the bottom,  plasma (a clear white liquid) is on top, and  in the middle is a pinkish layer called the "buffy coat" which contains the white blood cells (WBC), including stem cells. b).Separation: Separation of stem cells is accomplished by further centrifuge spinning of the white cells. 7..Storage of Cord Blood Stem Cells After the cells have been separated, the unit containing stem cells is mixed with a cryopreservation solvent. The solvent most commonly used for cryopreservation of cord blood is "DMSO" usually in 10% solution. This solvent protects the cells against the formation of ice crystals, which can rupture the cell membrane. The storage temperature should remain stable at -196o C in liquid nitrogen tank. Cord blood samples have been preserved for as long as 10 years.

DISEASES TREATED WITH CORD BLOOD STEM CELL

DISEASES BLOOD DISORDERS MALIGNANCIES AUTO IMMUNE DISORDERS INBORN ERRORS OF METABOLISM IMMUNO DEFICIENCIES EXAMPLES APLASTIC ANEMIA THALASSEMIA, LEUKEMIA, MYELOMA, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

ADRENOLEUKODYSTROPHY HURLERS SYNDROME

SEVERE COMBINED IMMUNO DEFICIENCY CHRONIC GRANULOMATOUS DISEASE.

CORD BLOOD FACTS

Match for Donor/Child = 100% Match for Parent = 50% Match for Sibling = 25%

ADVANTAGES OF CORD BLOOD BANKING Easier to match Higher survival Less GVHD Immediate availability

DISADVANTAGES OF CORD BLOOD BANKING Clinical Data Cord blood stem cell transplantation is almost two decades old, yet is a relatively new procedure in comparison to transplantation of peripheral blood or marrow stem cells. . It is possible that genetic diseases may be present but not apparent at the time of birth and could be transplanted to patient via donor cord blood stem cells.

TYPES OF CORD BLOOD BANKING: Cord blood banks are mainly of two types, i.e.public cord banks and private or family banks. Family banking your newborn's stem cells guarantees your newborn's sample will be saved for your family members to treat life-threatening diseases. Public donation of stem cells increases our national supply of cord blood samples to help save people needing a suitable stem cell match.

There are currently four major umbilical cord blood banks in India
The Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad will set-up the first public cord-blood bank. CONCLUSION: Once considered a waste product , cord blood now is recognized as a valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells, which have already been used in several thousand transplants. Proper collection and processing of cord blood is important to ensure cell preservation. Reliance Life Science in Navi (New) Mumbai, Cryobanks in Gurgaon, Life Cell in Chennai and Cryo Stemcell in Bangalore.

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