[10 years Swiss bone marrow donor registry]

The Swiss Bone Marrow Donor Registry was established 1988 as a project of Swiss Transplant. Up to the end of 1997, 13,500 unrelated volunteer donors have been added to the central registry in Bern in cooperation with the regional transfusion centers of Switzerland. During this period, the registry responded to over 15,000 international search requests. 67 matching Swiss donors were found for patients all over the world. On the other hand, 77 Swiss patients received unrelated bone marrow transplantation from international donors. In 1997, 24 donors were selected from the Swiss registry and 21 bone marrow transplantations were performed, which is more than in any year before. The most recent developments are peripheral blood stem cell donation and the creation of cord blood banks.