Microbial contamination of hematopoietic progenitor cell products: clinical outcome

Quality monitoring of microbial contamination of cryopreserved parathyroid tissue

“…Although bacterial survival post-cryopreservation is undetermined, evidence from hematopoietic stem cell cryopreservation suggests that bacteria will survive, as cases of positive pre-and post-cryopreservation bacterial cultures have been reported (Patah et al 2007). Due to the irreplaceable nature of the cells needed for the patient's care, contaminated hematopoietic stem cell transplants have been infused with the concomitant use of antimicrobial therapy and generally did not result in adverse events (Kamble et al 2005).…”

Cryopreservation of Hematopoietic and Non-Hematopoietic Stem Cells – A Review for the Clinician

“…The predominant cultured bacterial subspecies are part of the skin flora and other commensal organisms, with the remainder being mainly enteric organisms. However, other opportunistic and non-opportunistic organisms like Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and MRSA have been identified (Kamble et al, 2005;Larrea et al, 2004;Patah et al, 2007;Vanneaux et al, 2007). The clinical relevance of microbial contamination of stem cell products has been questioned by several authors.…”

“…The overall rate of positive cultures in this study was relative low at 1.2% and coagulase negative Staphylococci were the most frequently detected organisms. None of the 21.6% of the patients who died in the post-transplant period died from a cause, ascribed to the contaminated stem cell product (Patah et al, 2007). Another study from Spain summarized the experience with 152 patients receiving a total of 617 bags of autologous, cryopreserved PBSC.…”

“…All patients were routinely prophylaxed with fluoroquinolones, acyclovir and fluconazole. Further, organism specific antimicrobial therapy was added when positive cultures were detected prior to the infusion (Majado et al, 2007;Patah et al, 2007). A study from the MD Anderson cancer center reported the experience with 3078 autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell infusions over a six year time span.…”

Production of Clinical Grade Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

“…Positive grafts are found in wide range of 0-43% of cases (Lowder & Whelton, 2003), but surprisingly they do not appear to present unacceptable risks. In two large studies, (Patah, 2007;Phinney, 2007) the frequency of positive grafts was between 1-2%. While Phinney gave preemptive antibiotic treatment to the graft recipients, Phinney just observed them.…”