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Sources for allogeneic stem cells for patients with haematological disorders lacking a histocompatible sibling donor include matched unrelated donor (MUD) and umbilical cord blood (UCB). A total of 51 patients with haematological disorders, treated with myeloablation and transplantation with either unrelated human leucocyte antigen (HLA) partially matched UCB (28 patients) or HLA-matched MUD grafts (23 patients) during 1997–2003, were evaluated for life-threatening infections, haematological reconstitution, graft versus host disease, relapse and event-free survival (EFS). The median duration of neutropenia after transplantation was longer (29 d vs. 14 d) in the UCB group. The probability of donor-derived neutrophil engraftment by day 42 was 0·86 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·71–1·0] in UCB recipients versus 0·96 (95% CI 0·87–1·0) in MUD recipients surviving >28 d. Overall infection rates were higher in UCB recipients, particularly at the early time points (before day +50) after transplantation. Graft failure occurred in five UCB recipients and two MUD recipients and was associated with the occurrence of bacteraemia during neutropenia. The EFS at 3-year follow-up was 0·25 in UCB and 0·35 in MUD recipients. UCB transplantation in adults is associated with delayed neutrophil and lymphocyte recovery compared with MUD grafting, and higher rates of bacteraemia at early time points after transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]