An international survey of unrelated umbilical cord blood banking.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate operational and technical practices within the field of cord blood banking.


METHODS
Cord blood banks world-wide were invited to participate in a survey of collection, processing and testing. The survey covered a 12-month period up to August 1998.


RESULTS
Replies were received from 18 cord blood banks. Analysis of the survey responses demonstrated wide variations in many aspects of cord blood banking.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for standardization to ensure adoption of best practice.
Stanworth
S
S
London Cord Blod Bank, National Blood Service--North London Centre, UK.
Warwick
R
R
Fehily
D
D
Persaud
C
C
Armitage
S
S
Navarrete
C
C
Contreras
M
M
D001771:Blood Banks; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D003625:Data Collection; D005312:Fetal Blood; D006801:Humans