On December 19, Hue Central Hospital announced that it had successfully treated the third and fourth allogeneic bone marrow transplants on patients with congenital hemolytic disease, alpha-thalassemia.
The third transplant was for Ho A. D. (38 months old, Quang Tri). The child was diagnosed with alpha-thalassemia a year ago and had to be hospitalized for monthly blood transfusions. After HLA testing, the child was confirmed to be a complete match with his 8-year-old brother. The child underwent a bone marrow transplant on November 12, 2024.
The fourth transplant was for Dang Mai A. T. (10 years old, Da Nang). She was diagnosed with Alpha-Thalassemia at 20 days old. She had to be hospitalized for monthly blood transfusions. After HLA testing, she was also a perfect match for her 15-year-old brother and underwent an allogeneic bone marrow transplant on November 27, 2024.
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 body's organs, leading to many difficulties in life.
Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is considered the optimal treatment method, providing the opportunity for complete recovery for children, helping them to live healthy lives without blood transfusions.
The success of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation at Hue Central Hospital not only brings hope to children with thalassemia, but also opens up treatment prospects for other diseases requiring allogeneic bone marrow transplantation such as bone marrow failure, congenital immunodeficiency and recurrent cancer.
For allogeneic stem cell transplantation, finding a suitable HLA is a difficult problem. Therefore, 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.
"This is a major step forward in the application of allogeneic stem cell transplantation, marking an important success in the treatment of this disease, opening up many new opportunities for children with congenital hemolytic disease. Children from now on no longer have to depend on regular blood transfusions or daily iron excretion, and develop normally like other healthy children," said Professor Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of Hue Central Hospital.
Not only that, in parallel with the implementation of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, Hue Central Hospital continues to perform autologous bone marrow transplantation for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.
On this occasion, Hue Central Hospital also successfully performed the 40th autologous bone marrow transplant. That was the case of N.P.Q.M (4.5 years old, from Tien Giang) with high-risk neuroblastoma.
