CROATIAN BONE MARROW DONOR REGISTRY (ION – 5712)
Dear colleagues and friends,
Please find attached updated operations statement of the Croatian Registry due to the current COVID -19 situations.
Statement is valid from 1st April until further notice.
- CBMDR Registry personnel - working mainly from home. All international registries can contact us as usual, by emails and / or mobile phones :
00 385 91 49 20 585 Nika Kalogjera, MD, Director (also emergency number!)
00 385 91 49 21 178 Josipa Canic, office manager
- Search requests
CBMDR registry is accepting search requests from international registries as usual.
- CT process
CBMDR registry will temporarily stop providing blood samples at the VT stage for HLA typing and IDM testing’s. Due to the current COVID -19 situation, from 1st April until further notice, CBMDR will no longer send blood samples abroad.
When contacting donors, we will check donor’s availability and perform the health history screening questionnaire, which includes also screening for COVID-19 exposure or infection. If further HLA typing is necessary, it will be carried out at any moment prior and closest to the donation process.
- Work up requests
We accept work-up request as usual. Please send requests for CT blood samples together with work up requests, as blood samples will be taken in addition to the pre-collection samples.
Our recommendation for all transplant centers is to ask for PBSC collections ( in accordance with EBMT guidelines) and to cryopreserve stem cells .
Please note that all donors will be tested on COVID-19 before starting G-CSF stimulation and day before collection. They are all advised and educated to follow standard hygiene measures and to respect social isolation before donation. After the donation, all donors will be followed up for any possible symptoms of COVID-19.
Please feel free to contact us for any further questions or information’s.
Keep well and stay safe.
With kind regards,
Nika Kalogjera, MD
Executive Director of CBMDR
University Hospital Center Zagreb, Croatia