[Influence of obstetric factors on characteristics of umbilical cord blood transplants]

There is a correlation between the success of the cord blood transplant and the numbers of HSC found in the unit of cord blood donation. The purpose of this analysis is to identify obstetric factors that may influence the quality of a cord blood unit taken during delivery.

A retrospective study was carried out at the Liège cord blood bank on a sample of 7.463 cord blood units collected between 2000 and 2016. Eight obstetric factors were analyzed in relation to two dependent variables; the total nucleated cells (TNC) and the volume of one unit of cord blood. The Welch test, the percentiles 25 and 75 and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon test were used.

Several obstetric parameters were found to influence (P<0.05) the quality of the cord blood unit are: cord clamping (>15 seconds), the use of oxytocin during labor, a more advanced gestational age (38-41 weeks), a higher birth weight (>3300 gr), and a higher weight of the placenta (>500 gr). A female newborn and the use of epidural, influence (P<0.05) the number of TNC but not the volume of the cord blood unit.

We can conclude that the birth weight, the weight of the placenta, the gestational age and cord clamping are parameters that could be used by maternity hospitals to identify births that enable more voluminous grafts which are richer in total nucleated cells.