CUTTACK: Doctors at the clinical hematology department of SCB medical college and hospital here have successfully conducted allogenic bone marrow transplant (BMT) on a two-year-old baby girl suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
The patient, Aliza Naaz, is the youngest patient to undergo BMT in the state. The stem cell donor is the patient's four-year-old elder sister, Aatifa.
The patient Aliza, daughter of Shahrukh Ansari of Dhanbad in Jharkhand, was diagnosed with AML at Tata Memorial Hospital, Jamshedpur, in August last year.
She underwent chemotherapy but the disease persisted. With her condition deemed high-risk, she was advised to undergo allogenic BMT at the last option.
Her human leukocyte antigen (HLA), the marker of compatibility with donor, matched a perfect 100 per cent with her elder sister Aatifa.
Though she was initially referred to a more expensive medical centre for the transplant, the family was advised to go to SCBMCH where the procedure was provided completely free of cost. The BMT costs around Rs 30 Lakh at other hospitals.
The patient was admitted on January 7 this year and a BMT team was constituted under chief BMT physician Prof RK Jena with associate professor and HoD Dr Sudha Sethy, Dr Manmohan Biswal and Dr Pratichi Das. Two senior faculty from paediatrics department Prof Geeta Sethy and Dr Anwesha Das were roped in to help with the procedure.
Aatifa was admitted on January 28 for donating stem cell.
“This proved the most challenging aspect of the BMT as she is just four years old and does not possess the blood volume for operating the aphaeresis machine. We used same group blood to prime the machine and then collected stem cell from Aatifa. The collection was satisfactory and successfully transplanted in Aliza on February 7,” Prof Jena said.
Post BMT, all her parameters are fine as on Day 12 on Wedenesday and is expected to be discharged in a week.
Expressing gratitude to the doctors and the government, the patient’s uncle Minhaz Ansari said, they had lost all hope till they reached SCBMCH.
“We could not have afforded the money required for BMT at other centres. Here, thanks to the state government, we did not have to spend a rupee. The entire team led by Prof Jena took great care and made it a success,” he said.
The BMT unit opened in 2014, has conducted 176 procedures as on date with a success rate of more than 80 per cent on above two-year survival range.
“The BMT on Aliza is a landmark. It creates opportunities for cure of many children with not only blood cancer but also other blood diseases like thalassemia, sickle cell disease, aplastic anaemia, etc. These diseases taken together are huge, inflicting a significant socio-economic burden on our state,” Prof Jena said.