Cord blood from collection to expansion: feasibility in a regional blood bank.

This article reviews the various aspect of the experimental phase preceding the establishment of an umbilical cord blood (UCB) bank within a regular blood bank, a situation totally different from that of de novo establishing a cord blood bank having human and financial resources. An ethically approved two-year study has been conducted to determine the technical feasibility, and the practical problems that might be encountered such as public compliance, the additional workload, introduction of new activities ranging from collection and processing to progenitor expansion, infectious disease testing, development of a quality control system, record keeping and documentation, development of specific procedures and definitions of requirements. The cost benefit aspect, which will ultimately depend on the frequency of units release, was not considered in this study.