Abstract: The first successful allogeneic transplant with a placental
blood graft, in Paris in 1988, by prof. Dr. Eliane Gluckman marked the opening of a new chapter in the transplant of hematopoietic stem cells. At the same time with the clinical validation of the therapeutic
value of placental blood, they also outlined the necessity of initiating and implementing a system to
preserve placental blood samples available at birth,
in order to harvest them. Thus, in the early ‘90s in the
U.S.A., for the first time, the placental blood banking
service was organized and implemented. During the
next 20 years the placental blood banking activity
had a significant expansion directly related to the accumulation
of experience and to the confirmation of
the therapeutic value of grafts in hematopoietic stem
cell transplant. The clinical experience accumulated
especially in the field of Paediatric revealed the benefits
of the placental blood graft versus the placental
blood stem cell hematopoietic classical sources (bone
marrow or peripheral blood). The simple harvesting,
with no risk for the mother or the newborn, the immunological
benefits for a transplant due to the reduced
immunogenicity of hematopoietic placental blood
stem cells, the graft storage for an indefinite period
under a cryo-reserved form, the immediate availability
of the graft, the reduced risk of viral transmission
are some of the advantages of placental blood graft.
Following all these, for the first time, Prof. Dr. John E.
Wagner mentioned in an article published in the journal
“the Lancet” in 2007, the possibility to reconsider
the position of alternative source of stem cells, to that
source in the first intention, without the existence of
the condition between the time of transplantation
and that of the availability of a compatible bone marrow
graft. The steady upward trend in terms of utilization
of placental blood grafts, the NMDP (National
Bone Marrow Donor Program) considering that by
2015 the number of performed placental blood graft
transplants will reach 10,000 per year, should be correlated
with the increased availability of grafts, too.
Thus the first and most important step is to inform
prospective parents about placental blood banking
and its medical implications, a central role in achieving
this belonging to obstetricians, namely planning
and implementing health education programs. Keywords: placental blood, transplant, education
programs