It is a medical procedure in which a patient receives healthy stem cells from a donor to replace their own damaged or diseased bone marrow.
Published Jul 27, 2024 | 2:00 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 27, 2024 | 3:03 PM
Medical Education minister with the girl who underwent Bone Marrow Transplantation at the BMT Unit of Kidwai Memorial Institute. (Supplied)
On the morning of Friday, 26 July, the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology was buzzing with a sense of achievement and relief.
Minister for Medical Education, Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, visited the unit to personally commend the medical team and check on the health of the young girl who underwent a life-saving procedure.
The Kidwai Hospital performed its first successful pediatric Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplantation on a 14-year-old girl, and she was ready to go home.
It can be noted that South First had earlier written about how children needing BMT were being referred to private hospitals from Kidwai hospitals where the families were expected to raise an amount of nearly 40 lakhs for the BMT to be done.
However, the success of this transplantation showed that Kidwai Hospital has started taking patients for transplants.
Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is a complex and potentially life-saving procedure that offers hope to patients with serious blood and immune system diseases. It requires meticulous matching and preparation, careful monitoring for complications, and comprehensive post-transplant care.
It is a medical procedure in which a patient receives healthy stem cells from a donor to replace their own damaged or diseased bone marrow.
This type of transplant is used to treat various conditions, primarily blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma, but also other diseases affecting the bone marrow, such as severe aplastic anaemia, certain genetic disorders, and some immune system disorders. Allogeneic BMT can potentially cure diseases that are otherwise incurable with conventional treatments.
The success of such transplants, like the recent one at Kidwai Memorial Institute, showcases the remarkable advances in medical science and the profound impact these procedures can have on patients and their families.
Joy on Ershad Pasha, a mutton stall employee’s face was quite evident when he shared to South First the happiness of his daughter coming home, nearly after 45 days of their stay in the Kidwai Hospital.
“I can’t express how happy I am today that my daughter Aliya Ershad is coming home. Her happiness is the ultimate for me. I love my daughter and it was a shock for us when we got to know her condition just when the world was celebrating New Year! Her condition and need for a Bone marrow transplant was diagnosed on 31 December 2023,” explains Ershad to South First.
Aliya tells her father that she’s waiting to go back to school and is tired of being sick.
While Aliya will get to go back home, Ershad told South First that her little brother Mohamad Maaz (7 years old) who donated his stem cells, has also recovered very well and is going to school. He said the BMT unit at Kidwai Hospital has nearly 10 to 12 pediatric patients.
Aliya was battling severe leukaemia and the family apparently had lost hope of her survival. She was admitted to the BMT unit two months ago. While they were looking for a donor match, Ershad first tested the possibility of Aliya’s younger brother, however it did not match.
Later, Aliya’s youngest brother (Maaz) was checked and he was a perfect genetic match.
Doctors from Kidwai Hospital explained to South First that her treatment involved the transplantation of stem cells from her younger brother, who was a perfect genetic match.
This complex and delicate procedure, performed by Dr Vasundhara Kailasanath and her team, was a resounding success.
Given the family’s impoverished background, the treatment was provided free of charge under the Employee State Insurance (ESI) scheme. This surgery in private hospitals costs anywhere between ₹40-50 lakh.
Aliya’s parents have been instructed that this surgery needs regular monitoring for complications, immunosuppressive drugs to prevent GVHD, infections, and relapse of the underlying disease.
Ershad noted, “We will be coming to the hospital every week for the first few months and also ensure that she is taken good care of to ensure there is no infection,”
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)
