Knowledge and Attitude Among Lebanese Pregnant Women Toward Cord Blood Stem Cell Storage and Donation.

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) used to be considered waste material and was discarded at birth. However, cord blood is now considered a rich source of adult stem cells that can be used to treat many conditions and diseases. This study was performed to determine pregnant women's knowledge and attitudes toward cord blood stem cell banking and donation in Lebanon. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in antenatal clinics in Beirut and data were collected using a questionnaire distributed to pregnant women after provision of informed consent. A total of 244 women responded. Results: Less than half of the women (46%) reported knowledge about cord blood banking. However, participants with university and secondary education had significantly higher odds of considering UCB storage compared to those with primary education (odds ratio (OR) 8.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.74-27.15 and OR 21.23,95% CI 6.55-68.86, respectively). Older pregnant women were less likely to think about UCB stem cells storage (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85-0.98). Conclusion: Respondents who had an existing knowledge about UCB stem cells banking in general were more likely to consider storing UCB in blood banks if affordable (45.9%). Therefore, it is necessary to inform pregnant women about stem cell banking so that they can make the appropriate decisions for themselves.

Deliberative Discussion Focus Groups.

This article discusses a new approach for the conduct of focus groups in health research. Identifying ways to educate and inform participants about the topic of interest prior to the focus group discussion can promote more quality data from informed opinions. Data on this deliberative discussion approach are provided from research within three federally funded studies. As healthcare continues to improve from scientific and technological advancements, educating the research participants prior to data collection about these complexities is essential to gather quality data.

Estudios citogenético en muestras de sangre fetal obtenida mediante cordocentesis. Primer reporte / Cytogenetic studies using fetal blood samples from umbilical cord. First report

El propósito de este trabajo es analizar los resultados de los estudios prenatales citogenéticos realizados a partir de mues-tras de sangre de cordón umbilical, en el periodo de Enero del 2002 a Diciembre del 2006, en el que se realizaron 106cordocentesis por indicación de cariotipos fetales. La obtención de cromosomas se efectuó a partir de linfocitos de sangre fetal estimulados durante 48 horas. En el análisis citogenético, se contaron como promedio 18 metafases en bandas GTG y para la confección del cariotipo se empleó el procesador de imágenes Metasystem-Ikaros. Del total de casos, la obtención de cariotipo fue posible en el 83,0(percent)(88/106) y se detectaron anomalías cromosómicas en el 5,7(per cent) (5/88) de las pacientes. El 81,8 (percent)del total de casos estudiados tenían una edad gestacional entre 21-26 semanas. El 46,6(percent) de los mismos correspondió a embarazadas en las edades comprendidas entre 36-40 años de edad. El método empleado permitió detectar anomalías cromosómicas en embarazos de alto riesgo a edades gestacionales que sobrepasan el tiempo del diagnóstico prenatal citogenético por líquido amniótico, contando así, con otra técnica para el estudio prenatal citogenético de la población de riesgo, lo cual contribuyó a la disminución de la mortalidad infantil y al bienestar genético de la familia…(AU)