Objectives: The adoption of international quality and accreditation standards is important for the success of transplant centers. Guidelines from the Joint Accreditation Committee ISCT-Europe and EBMT (JACIE) have enabled quality management of the operations of clinical units of cellular therapy centers, including cell collection and processing, thus minimizing errors and adverse events. COVID-19 has had significant implications for immunocompromised patients, particularly hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, as well as their donors and caregivers. Here, we retrospectively examined measures, taken in our transplant center in Turkey during the pandemic period between March 2020 and October 2021, to investigate how JACIE accreditation has affected patient, donor, product, and employee safety.
Materials and methods: We analyzed data on transplant activity, as well as donor, patient, product, and employee safety, during the pandemic in 3 separate 6- month periods. The measures were analyzed starting from March 2020, when the first COVID-19 case was seen in Turkey.
Results: Since the beginning of the pandemic, 140 patients have undergone stem cell transplant in our center. Stem cell transplant was delayed in 22 patients because of the pandemic. Transplant was also postponed due to COVID-19 positivity in 6 patients, and 2 patients died due to COVID-19 infection during the transplant process. Unrelated donor activity continued to be performed safely throughout this period. COVID- 19 infection developed in 12 of the 52 personnel working in the bone marrow transplant unit, one of whom needed intensive care due to severe pneumonia. In terms of quality management activities, the impact of the pandemic was greatest during the first month.
Conclusions: Results from our retrospective study examining the impact of JACIE accreditation in a stem cell transplant center during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that, when national and international guidelines are followed, JACIE accreditation can facilitate adaptation to changing conditions in transplant centers.