Two babies in Da Nang and Quang Tri revived thanks to bone marrow transplant from their brother

On December 19, a representative of Hue Central Hospital said that these were the hospital's third and fourth allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Allogeneic bone marrow transplants involve patients receiving hematopoietic stem cells from blood relatives or unrelated people.

Among them, a child over 3 years old, living in Quang Tri, has alpha Thalassemia (congenital hemolytic anemia), and has had to be hospitalized for monthly blood transfusions for a year.

The patient's HLA blood antigen system is a perfect match with his 8-year-old brother. Therefore, the brother donated bone marrow to him. The bone marrow transplant was performed a month ago and the child is recovering well.

A 10-year-old boy in Da Nang, diagnosed with Thalassemia at 20 days old, also had to be hospitalized for monthly blood transfusions. He received a bone marrow transplant from his 15-year-old brother. The transplant was performed 20 days ago. After the surgery, he had complications of fever and mild neutropenia but quickly recovered.

Thalassemia is a genetic disease that causes microcytic anemia, seriously affecting the physical and mental development of children. In severe cases, children must rely on regular blood transfusions, causing iron overload in the body, causing iron accumulation in the organs, leading to many difficulties in life.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is considered the optimal treatment for Thalassemia, providing the opportunity for complete recovery, helping children live healthy lives without blood transfusions.

With this method, finding a suitable HLA is a difficult problem. In order for the bone marrow transplant process to continue and help many patients with thalassemia, Hue Central Hospital conducts free HLA testing for patients and their families to find a suitable bone marrow donor.