Transfusions, Bone Marrow Transplant Push Limits Of Already Daring Fetal Therapy Field
Elianna Constantino and her mother Nichelle Obar were the first patients in an experiment to treat a normally fatal disorder while Elianna was still in the womb.
The New York Times:
Five Blood Transfusions, One Bone Marrow Transplant — All Before Birth
In the three months before she was even born, Elianna Constantino received five blood transfusions and a bone-marrow transplant. All were given with a needle passed through her mother’s abdomen and uterus, into the vein in her umbilical cord. Elianna, born Feb. 1 with a robust cry and a cap of gleaming black hair, has a genetic disease that usually kills a fetus before birth. The condition, alpha thalassemia major, leaves red blood cells unable to carry oxygen around the body, causing severe anemia, heart failure and brain damage. (Grady, 5/25)
In more news —
The Wall Street Journal:
New Promise For Bone-Marrow Transplants
Few procedures in medicine present patients with a sharper double-edged sword than a bone-marrow transplant. The treatment offers a potential cure for lethal blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma and other blood disorders. But it is a highly toxic and sometimes fatal procedure in which patients’ immune systems typically are severely weakened or wiped out with high-dose chemotherapy or radiation. Many patients turn down the potentially lifesaving treatment, fearing that the cure is at least as bad as the disease. (Winslow, 5/28)
