Cord Blood Red Blood Cell Depletion

In addition to being a rich source of stem cells, cord blood also contains red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma.¹ Red blood cells have no benefit when transplanted and may lead to complications if they remain in the cord blood stem cell unit upon transplant ^15,18 and are used for a relative with a different blood type. As such, cord blood banks use a process called red blood cell depletion to remove unwanted red blood cells from the final cord blood stem cell unit prior to cord blood storage. There are different techniques that can be used to deplete the red blood cells and as such the amount of red blood cells that remain in a cord blood stem cell unit may vary. If a processing method results in a high percentage of red blood cells remaining in the final cord blood stem cell unit, complications could arise if the cord blood cells are used for a relative with a different blood type ¹⁸