Umbilical cord blood banking in The Netherlands

Cord blood banks are being developed in the United States and Europe. In The Netherlands, the EuroCord Nederland Foundation (ECN) has been established to coordinate the development of a national cord blood bank for unrelated transplants. The aim of ECN is to collect at least 5000 transplants for patients who lack an HLA-identical related or unrelated bone marrow donor. Four blood banks in Leiden, Groningen, Nijmegen and Amsterdam, Europdonor Foundation and the Department of Hematology of the Leiden University Medical Center participate in this organization. From March 1995 to November 1997, 720 units have been collected, processed, HLA typed, tested for transmissible diseases and cryopreserved in the Dutch cord blood bank.