Unrelated Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation for an Infant With ??-Thalassemia Major

Abstract

Umbilical cord blood transplantation from related and unrelated donors should be considered for patients with beta-thalassemia major who lack traditional bone marrow donors. As most newborns undergo screening for hemoglobinopathies, those with disease could be transplanted early in life before experiencing the morbidity and mortality caused by transfusion therapy, alloimmunization, and iron overload, increasing the likelihood of successful transplantation therapy.