ABSTRACT
Transfusion medicine is a broad medical specialty that encompasses blood utilization, blood donation and collection, preparation of blood components, immunologic and genetic principles , regulatory compliance issues, and vast clinical considerations. These clinical considerations include obstetric and perinatal transfusion practices, neonatal and pediatric problems, hematopoi etic stem and progenitor cell transplantation, including umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, tissue banking and organ transplantation, surgical procedures, bleeding disorders, and both potentially noninfectious and infectious complications of blood transfusions ( 1 ) . While there are various excellent texts devoted to the subject of transfusion med icine, in this chapter we will focus our discussion on transplantation, diseases that may benefit from transplantation, and the role of cytogenetics in as sessing clinical status and monitoring engraftment.
