Bone Marrow Transplantation, HealthTime Türkiye

Bone Marrow Transplantation

Bone marrow is a spongy and vital tissue located inside the bones. It contains blood-forming (hematopoietic) cells.
The cells in the bone marrow multiply when necessary to form blood cells.

In cases where the bone marrow does not work or does not produce enough healthy blood cells, a bone marrow transplant is necessary. Another name for this procedure is cell transplantation. Bone marrow transplantation is performed by replacing damaged bone marrow cells with stem cells taken from the patient himself or from a volunteer donor.

Bone Marrow Groups

AUTOLOGOUS TRANSPLANTATION: Bone marrow transplantation using cells taken from the patient himself/herself. Prior to this transplantation, the patient's own cells are removed, frozen and returned to the patient after the chemotherapy procedure. The purpose of removing the stem cells in this procedure is to prevent them from being damaged by the chemotherapy.

ALLOGENEIC TRANSPLANTATION: A marrow transplant from a family member or other donor who is a perfect match for the patient.

HAPLOIDENTICAL TRANSPLANTATION: It is a marrow transplant from a half-matched mother, father, sibling, or child.

Bone Marrow Transplant Process

Admission to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit: When the patient is ready for bone marrow transplantation, admission to the bone marrow transplant unit is performed. Because patients are extremely susceptible to infections, the bone marrow transplant unit has a special ventilation system with HEPA (also known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing filter and high-efficiency particulate arrestance filter) filters.

Catheter Placement: Instead of opening a vein several times to take blood from the patient's body or to provide intravenous nutrition, a tube called a catheter is inserted into one of the main veins leading to the heart. This procedure is performed by interventional radiologists with imaging.

Preparation Program: Before the cell transplantation, the patient undergoes high-dose radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy to remove cancerous bone marrow and blood cells. The aim of this procedure is to ensure that the cells to be transplanted start their function in a completely healthy environment. This procedure takes between 7 to 10 days.

Transplantation Day: The cells are injected into the patient through a previously placed catheter or a newly opened vein. This process takes a few hours.

After Transplant: After the transplant, it takes 10 to 15 days for the stem cells to start producing blood cells again. During this period, the patient is given blood cell supplements from outside. Since the immune system will be very weak during this period, susceptibility to infection increases; complaints such as weakness, bitterness in the mouth, diarrhea and abdominal pain may occur.

Discharge: When all processes are completed smoothly after the transplantation, the patient is ready to be discharged. This process usually takes 2-3 weeks. After discharge, the patient's condition needs to be monitored for a while. While this period is 1 to 2 days a week at first, at the end of the first year, the number of controls decreases to once every few months.