Successful Salvage Unrelated Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation with Two Units After Engraftment Failure with Single Unit in Severe Aplastic Anemia

Abstract

Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients without an HLA-matched sibling donor need alternative treatment options. Umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) has become an alternative means for treating various diseases, but it has not been proved to be a satisfactory method to treat SAA. Here, we report the case of a girl who underwent successful two-unit UCBT after engraftment failure with a single unit. Two-unit UCBT is proposed to have better engraftment potential and to offer a better chance of survival, according to some reports. Increased cell dose and graft-versus-graft reaction could contribute to these advantages. With this promising result, two-unit UCBT could be an alternative treatment option for patients with SAA without an HLA-matched donor.