RESUMO
BACKGROUND: To preserve the umbilical cord blood (UCB), the volume containing the cells must be reduced before freezing, but the quality, quantity and functionality of the cells has to be preserved during this procedure. The aim is to compare the performance of two different techniques for volume reduction. METHODS: A semiautomatic system and an automatic system were compared as two different UCB volume reduction techniques. Total nucleated cell (TNC) counts and viability were measured before and after volume reduction. The CD34+ cell counts also were measured. RESULTS: Seventy units of cord blood cells (UCB) were collected. Thirty-three volume reduction procedures were performed by semiautomatic system and thirty-seven by automatic system. The volume recovered and the CD34+ count in both techniques was similar, although the viability differed slightly (1% higher by Optipress II). CONCLUSIONS: The semiautomatic and automatic techniques are suitable to reduce volumes of UCB units.