Factors affecting the volume of umbilical cord blood collections

Objective. Our purpose was to find factors that may help increase the number of the HSC (CD34+) collected from umbilical cord blood for transplantation. Study design. We assessed the effect of cesarean sections and vaginal deliveries on the volume of the umbilical cord blood collected from 155 healthy term neonates retrospectively. Results. The volume of umbilical cord blood obtained in 29 cesarean deliveries was 103.9±33.6 ml compared with 84.2±25.3 ml collected in 126 vaginal deliveries. Although the percentage of CD34 cells was comparable in both groups, the absolute number of CD34+ cells was significantly higher in the cesarean section group because of the larger volume collected. Conclusions. Cesarean sections may allow collection of significantly increased volumes of umbilical cord blood and numbers of CD34+ cells compared to vaginal deliveries.