Serious Stem Cell Donation Events and Recipient Adverse Reactions Related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2: Review of Reports to the World Marrow Donor Association.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has deeply impacted hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donation and transplantation. Numerous changes in practice have been introduced, and monitoring the impact of these changes on donations and transplantations is of vital importance. As part of a global response to this pandemic, the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) asked that its member registries and cord blood banks submit SARS-CoV-2-related adverse events to the WMDA-operated Serious Product Events and Adverse Reactions (SPEAR) database. Here we review SARS-CoV-2-related SPEAR events that occurred in 2020. The WMDA SPEAR Committee reviewed reports submitted via an online tool. The Committee reviewed each report following the European Union definitions of a serious adverse event or reaction and determined the imputability and its impact. Reports submitted in 2020 were included in this analysis. A TOTAL OF: 74 such reports were received, and events were classified as donor-related (n = 41; 55.4%), recipient-related (n = 3; 4.1%), technical issues (n = 31; 41.8%), or transport-related issues (n = 4; 5.4%). Five cases appeared in multiple categories. The most frequently reported adverse events were of cells being unused. Many of these cases were caused by the uncoupling of the donation and transplantation consequent on the cryopreservation of products, as well as technical issues related to cell viability. Experience in some registries suggests that these issues have become less frequent as transplantation centers have become used to the changes in practice. Lessons learned include the importance of confirming recipient eligibility before the start of donor mobilization or collection and of minimizing the time between cell collection and transplantation. Transplantation centers should familiarize themselves with the expected cell losses when peripheral blood stem cell and bone marrow products are cryopreserved and should have validated viability assays in place for quality assurance. Reassuringly, there were no reports of donors becoming severely unwell because of G-CSF or transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to recipients and only 1 report of complete failure of transport of a donation.

Stem cell donor registry activities during the COVID-19 pandemic: a field report by DKMS.

The COVID-19 pandemic has serious implications also for patients with other diseases. Here, we describe the effects of the pandemic on unrelated hematopoietic stem cell donation and transplantation from the perspective of DKMS, a large international donor registry. Especially, we cover the development of PBSC and bone marrow collection figures, donor management including Health and Availability Check (HAC), transport and cryopreservation of stem cell products, donor recruitment and business continuity measures. The total number of stem cell products provided declined by around 15% during the crisis with a particularly strong decrease in bone marrow products. We modified donor management processes to ensure donor and product safety. HAC instead of confirmatory typing was helpful especially in countries with strict lockdowns. New transport modes were developed so that stem cell products could be safely delivered despite COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Cryopreservation of stem cell products became the new temporary standard during the pandemic to minimize risks related to transport logistics and donor availability. However, many products from unrelated donors will never be transfused. DKMS discontinued public offline donor recruitment, leading to a 40% decline in new donors during the crisis. Most DKMS employees worked from home to ensure business continuity during the crisis.