Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation a Brief Introduction

What is This Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation?

Bone Marrow Transplantation or BMT is a life-saving procedure, which is recommended for treating various Haematological and Oncological conditions. The procedure takes only a few hours.

Autologous and Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplants:

In Autologous Transplant, stem cells are collected from the patient's body itself; after giving growth factor injections to the patient for about 4-5 days, stem cells are collected from the vain of the body. The procedure is quite similar to that of a blood donation.

Once the cells are collected from the patient's body, he/she is given high doses of chemotherapy; the treatment kills the disease; chemotherapy is then followed by reinfusion of stem cells for bone marrow and blood recovery.

Indications:

Multiple myelomaLymphomaAcute Myeloid LeukemiaNeuroblastomaBrain Tumors

As opposed to Autologous Transplant, Allogeneic Transplant involves collecting stem cells from some other person; the donor is usually brother or sister of the patient, or sometime other family member. Similar to Autologous, the donor is also given the growth factor injections before collecting cells from his/her body. The procedure is not harmful for the person who donates the stem cells.

For Autologous, the patient is admitted for about 3 weeks in the hospital; it is 4 weeks in case of Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant. Patients are then discharged some oral medications so they do not get catch any infections and GVHD. Patients are also suggested staying closer to BMT center for about 3-6 months to ensure a hassle-free follow-up after BMT. Most patients are taken off all medicines by 6 months to 1 year.

Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant Facilities in India:

Well, there're several hospitals in the country, which are well-equipped for Stem Cell Transplant; multi-speciality hospitals, like Max Healthcare have state-of-the-art controlled rate freezer with fully automated Robotic arm for stem cell cryopreservation; these hospitals are also equipped with a state-of-the-art radiation oncology facility for total body irradiation, blood and platelet irradiation, skilled intensive care physicians, advanced blood bank, and a modern laboratory. Such world-class facilities ensure that the patient receives top-quality healthcare services.

Technology Driving the Progress in Medical Science:

Technology is helping Medical Science do the impossible; an important result of technological progress has been the emergence of new branches of medicine. Patients from the developing countries, particularly India, no longer insist on getting their treatment abroad; right from cancer treatment to blood-related treatment, hospitals in India are offering the best treatments, that too, at quite affordable costs.

At Max Healthcare, our state of the art HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filtered Bone Marrow Transplant unit offers stem cell transplantation for both benign and malignant conditions in children and adults. For more on stem cell transplant, visit our 'Bone Marrow Stem cell Transplantation' section on our website.

View the original article here