Placenta cord banking
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
Placenta cord banking refers to the collection and storage of stem cells from the placenta, in addition to those found in cord blood, after the birth of a human baby. Placental stem cells are those stem cells that are found only in the placenta and are collected after the blood from the umbilical cord is drawn. They are non-embryonic stem cells, as are those obtained from umbilical cord blood.
Both the placenta and umbilical cord are also rich sources of stem cells. Banking stem cells from the placenta in addition to those found in cord blood significantly increases the number of prenatal stem cells that are collected and preserved.
Contents |
Properties
The placenta is a rich source of CD34+ stem cells. By banking both placental and cord blood stem cells, the total number of CD34+ stem cells is doubled, on average. CD34+ cell dose is a factor that is consistently identified as significantly associated with rate of stem cell engraftment, treatment-related mortality, and survival.1
Collection, storage and costs
While cord blood is collected by a health care provider at the hospital, the placenta must be sent back to the laboratory for processing before the stem cells can be recovered. As such, placental stem cell collection and processing is more intensive than cord blood stem cell processing.
Both placental and cord blood stem cell units are processed and depleted of red blood cells and then cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196 degrees Celsius. Placental and cord blood stem cells units are stored in two separate cryopreservation bags, yielding two separate stem cell units.
Placenta cord banking costs $2,950 to collect and process the two stem cell units (both the placenta and cord blood) and then $225 per year for annual storage fees.2
Usage
Cord blood stem cells have been used to treat over 80 diseases to date, including leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and sickle cell anemia. Over 8,000 cord blood stem cell transplants have been performed to date.3 Placental stem cells may be used in conjunction with cord blood stem cells to improve engraftment potential via an increased number of stem cells and CD34+ stem cells.
See also
References
1. Wagner, et al. Blood. September 1, 2002; Volume 100, Number 5.
2. LifebankUSA
3. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Cord blood stem cell trasnplantation (PDF)
External Links
- DomaniCell, A hospital-based cord blood bank
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
