title: Optimizing donor selection for public cord blood banking: influence of maternal, infant, and collection characteristics on cord blood unit quality.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Banked unrelated donor umbilical cord blood (CB) has improved access to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients without a suitably matched donor. In a resource-limited environment, ensuring that the public inventory is enriched with high-quality cord blood units (CBUs) addressing the needs of a diverse group of patients is a priority. Identification of donor characteristics correlating with higher CBU quality could guide operational strategies to increase the yield of banked high-quality CBUs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Characteristics of 5267 CBUs donated to the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank, a public bank participating in the National Cord Blood Inventory, were retrospectively analyzed. Eligible CBUs, collected by trained personnel, were processed using standard procedures. Routine quality and potency metrics (postprocessing total nucleated cell count [post-TNCC], CD34+, colony-forming units [CFUs]) were correlated with maternal, infant, and collection characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High-quality CBUs were defined as those with higher post-TNCC (>1.25 × 10(9)) with CD34+ and CFUs in the upper quartile. Factors associated with higher CD34+ or CFU content included a shorter interval from collection to processing (<10 hr), younger gestational age (34-37 weeks; CD34+ and CFUs), Caucasian race, higher birthweight (>3500 g), and larger collection volumes (>80 mL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We describe characteristics identifying high-quality CBUs, which can be used to inform strategies for CBU collection for public banks. Efforts should be made to prioritize collections from larger babies born before 38 weeks of gestation. CBUs should be rapidly transported to the processing laboratory. The lower quality of CBUs from non-Caucasian donors highlights the challenges of building a racially diverse public CB inventory.
authors.affiliation: Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Program, Carolinas Cord Blood Bank, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; The EMMES Corporation, Rockville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Kristin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendizabal
authors.forename: Brigid
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Betz-Stablein
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wease
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shoulars
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gentry
authors.forename: Vinod K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Balber
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kurtzberg
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000094902:Blood Banking / Q000379:methods*; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D004864:Equipment and Supplies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005865:Gestational Age; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009657:North Carolina; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult