Desenzano Hospital Hosts Conference on Umbilical Cord Donation for Stem Cell Therapy
Few days ago, at the hospital in Pavia, a Sicilian child was saved from thalassemia thanks to placental blood donated by the mother after the birth of her second child. A child deliberately planned for a dual reason. The transplant was enough to restore a smile to the small patient, who is now completely cured of a very serious illness. An emotional but exemplary story. The future is here, in the so-called stem cells. And the conference scheduled for tomorrow, November 10, in the Aula Magna of the Desenzano Hospital, dedicated to umbilical cord donation, seems tailor-made to highlight this new frontier of medicine.
The initiative is by the Maternal and Child Department of the Azienda Ospedaliera di Desenzano, led by Dr. Piergiorgio Tassi, with the Obstetrics and Gynecology Unit of Desenzano Hospital. The event (free entry) is at 10 a.m. Umbilical cord blood is used as a source of stem cells as an alternative to bone marrow transplant. For hopeless diseases, placental blood offers many advantages: the transplant can be performed even under conditions of partial compatibility, unlike bone marrow transplants, which require donor-recipient compatibility.
Placental blood is immediately available, which drastically reduces the time between the request and the transplant; it costs about 1 million lire per cord, compared to 25 million for a transplant. This summarizes the significant outlook of umbilical cord donation from parturients.
In Desenzano, thanks to the setup of the service by Dr. Pasquale Pignatelli, Chief of the Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology at «Montecroce» Hospital, it is possible to obtain this placental blood and deliver it almost daily to the dedicated «bank» in Milan, which then distributes it according to the needs of major Lombard hospitals. A service coordinated by the Desenzano hospital department that, with the collaboration of the Training and Updating Service, has also enabled the nearly total involvement of parturients in willingly and convincingly donating their umbilical cord.
There are seven such banks in Italy, one of which, as mentioned, is in Milan. So far, placental blood has been widely used for pediatric transplants, as the number of cells it contains allows treatment of patients weighing about 20 kilograms, but it is expected that in the near future, «ex vivo» expanded cells will enable transplants in adults.
This, however, will only be possible through extensive information efforts to promote donation, along with close cooperation among hospitals with obstetrics units. Pignatelli also notes: «So far, parturients in Desenzano have demonstrated great sensitivity; many willingly donate their umbilical cord blood. This donation means that from one life, another life can be born hope».
In patients with hematological diseases (tumors, hereditary diseases, leukemia, etc.), stem cell transplants often represent the only effective therapy, and it has been shown that umbilical cord blood can be used as a source of stem cells.»
Further briefly about the conference tomorrow morning, which, as we repeat, is open to the public. The opening will be by a very well-known figure in Italian and international obstetrics, Professor Attilio Gastaldi, former Rector of the University of Brescia, a university professor and a scholar of renowned reputation; at 10:20 a.m., Dr. Paolo Rebulla (Medical Director of the Milano Cord Blood Bank) is scheduled to speak, followed by Dr. Lucilla Lecchi (Technical Director of the same Milan Cord Blood Bank) and Rebulla, who will draw the conclusions. A debate will follow.
