Four-year-old donates stem cells to elder sister in Lucknow

Aplastic anaemia is a rare and serious disease that can occur at any age. In this, the patient’s bone marrow stops producing new blood cells

Doctors of Medanta Hospital successfully conducted a bone marrow transplant on a 17-year-old girl with aplastic anaemia, where the donor was her four-year-old sister.

For representation only (HT File Photo)

“In cases where a minor is involved, parents’ consent is taken in order to take stem cells. The parents or guardians are explained the entire procedure and are asked to sign a consent form. Only after the family’s consent can we take bone marrow cells from the minor or else it becomes an issue,” director, hemato-oncology and bone marrow transplant, Medanta Hospital, Dr Anshul Gupta, said in a press conference on Friday.

Aplastic anaemia is a rare and serious disease that can occur at any age. In this, the patient’s bone marrow stops producing new blood cells. This makes the patient feel very tired. Due to new blood cells not forming, the risk of infection in the body increases manifold. Along with this, the patient starts bleeding uncontrollably.

“When 17-year-old Ummi came to us, her blood count had gone down dangerously. She was subjected to various tests after which it was decided that there was no healthy blood in her body and a donor’s bone marrow should be infused. Her younger sister, Faria’s bone marrow was a match,” said Dr Gupta.

Healthy bone marrow/stem cells were extracted from the donor and harvested for 3-4 weeks in the blood bank. After this, the damaged bone marrow in Ummi’s body was destroyed through chemotherapy and healthy bone marrow was infused.

“After treatment, the patient and the donor are completely healthy and are coming for regular follow-up,” said the doctor.