Umbilical cord blood collection before placental delivery during cesarean delivery increases cord blood volume and nucleated cell number available for transplantation.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine whether umbilical cord blood collection during cesarean delivery can be improved by collecting cord blood before delivery of the placenta.


METHODS
Patients undergoing cesarean delivery were randomly assigned to cord blood collection before or after placental delivery. Closed sterile collection systems were used for blood sampling. Cord blood characteristics and maternal outcome parameters were compared between the 2 groups.


RESULTS
A total number of 40 patients were available for analysis. No differences in maternal and neonatal characteristics were found. A larger amount of cord blood volume (mean +/- SEM, 93 +/- 7.5 vs 66 +/- 6.6 mL; P =.013) and total nucleated cell number (11.1 +/- 1.2 vs 7.4 +/- 0.8 x 10(8) cells; P =.026) was obtained in the samples collected before compared with those collected after placental delivery. Similarly, there was a trend toward higher total CD34(+) cell number in samples collected in situ (30.0 +/- 6.0 vs 17.4 +/- 2.4 x 10(5) cells; P =.076). Estimated intraoperative blood loss, difference between prepartum and postpartum hemoglobin values, operating time, and puerperal infection rates were similar in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
If a cesarean delivery is performed, cord blood sampling is more efficacious if performed before delivery of the placenta. This collection method seems beneficial and safe and might therefore be preferably used for related, as well as unrelated, cord blood stem cell banking and transplantation.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Laboratory of Hematology, University of Basel, Switzerland.
D V
DV
Surbek
E
E
Visca
C
C
Steinmann
A
A
Tichelli
S
S
Schatt
S
S
Hahn
A
A
Gratwohl
W
W
Holzgreve
D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000032:analysis; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D002452:Cell Count; D002585:Cesarean Section; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting
D018952:Antigens, CD34