title: Optimal method for collection of umbilical cord blood: an Egyptian trial for a public cord blood bank.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Umbilical cord blood (UCB) contains stem cells and can be used as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation. Engraftment is dependent on the total nucleated cell (TNC) and CD34+ cell counts of the cord blood units. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of the method of collection of the UCB on the yield of the cord blood units.
  
  
  METHODS
  Informed consent was obtained from 100 eligible mothers for donation of cord blood. Both in utero and ex utero methods were used for collection. The cord blood volume was measured. The TNC and the CD34+ cell counts were enumerated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We have found that in utero collection gave significantly larger volumes of cord blood and higher TNC counts than ex utero collection. There was no significant difference between both methods regarding the CD34+ cell counts. This study revealed a significant correlation between the volume of the collected cord blood and both TNC and CD34+ cell counts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is better to collect cord blood in utero before placental delivery to optimize the quality of the cord blood unit.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bassiouny
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: El-Chennawi
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mansour
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yahia
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darwish
mesh_terms: D000094902:Blood Banking / Q000379:methods*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001782:Blood Donors; D002585:Cesarean Section; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D013997:Time Factors; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting