European marrow donor information system: concept and praxis.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an increasingly used treatment option for patients with severe disorders of hematopoiesis. In roughly two thirds of the cases, an unrelated donor must be sought in international databases. These searches would nowadays be unimaginable without the support of information technologies. Reliable communication and data transfer of donor and patient records between all partners in this huge network is one of the most important success factors in stem cell transplantation. The European Marrow Donor Information System (EMDIS) is an open computer network for data exchange among different unrelated hematopoietic stem cell donor registries that covers 85% of all potential unrelated stem cell donors and cord blood units worldwide. The network has spread also to North America, Australia, Asia, and Africa. The Czech Stem Cell Registry in Prague became a member of the EMDIS community at the end of 2003, when it manually processed about 300 preliminary search requests per year and exported 32 stem cell products to other countries. In 2008, it has automatically processed>14,000 preliminary requests with a doubled 63 number of exported stem cell products.