THE first bone marrow transplant in Bahrain has been performed at the country’s second largest public hospital.
Bahraini Khaled Ahmed underwent the intricate procedure at the King Hamad University Hospital (KHUH) last month, and according to a team of specialists he has been discharged and was doing “absolutely fine”.
This means patients suffering from cancer, sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia will no longer have to travel abroad for the procedure as Bahrain has earned the title of becoming an internationally accredited bone marrow transplant centre.
It comes after an agreement was signed between the KHUH and the Erciyes University in Turkey to make the hospital’s King Hamad Oncology Centre (KHOC) an international centre.
Details of the procedure were revealed yesterday at a Press conference hosted by KHUH Commander Major General Dr Shaikh Salman bin Ateyatallah Al Khalifa and KHOC director Dr Elia Fadel at the hospital’s premises in Muharraq.
“Mr Ahmed was the first case that was reported after the KHOC was ready and the Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) was done on him,” said Major General Dr Shaikh Salman.
“The patient has been discharged and is absolutely fine.
“With this case, we made an agreement with Erciyes University in Turkey which has gained the status as one of the accredited bone marrow transplant centres in the world for KHOC.
“We have 10 beds now for bone marrow transplantation which is in excess for Bahrain, but we want Bahrain to be the centre of excellence in bone marrow transplantation in the future in the Gulf and hence the investment.”
HSCT is an intravenous infusion of bone marrow cells to patients with a variety of acquired and inherited malignant and non-malignant disorders including blood cancer, sickle cell disease and thalassaemia.
Mr Ahmed, aged 55, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that forms in the plasma cells, two years ago and he underwent the operation on December 7.
“He was diagnosed with the condition two years ago and after he was admitted at the centre, he received his stem cells on December 7 and was discharged on December 23 and is doing well,” said Dr Fadel.
“This kind of transplantation is done with the purpose of allowing the patient to tolerate a mega dose of treatment without having an irreversible damage of his bone marrow cells.
“We took his bone marrow cells and preserved them in a freezer and later infused them into his cells where it got grafted.”
He added that the oncology centre was preparing to perform the procedure on two more Bahraini patients in the coming days.
He also explained that the procedure could also help patients suffering from sickle cell and thalassaemia as it cuts down the otherwise high frequency of hospital visits, blood transfusions and attacks of severe pain.
One of the most common hereditary diseases in Bahrain is sickle cell anaemia, a condition that affects around 8,664 Bahrainis.
“Currently patients are going abroad for this treatment and have to stay outside for at least 100 days post-transplantation for direct management of complications and have to go at least once in three months for one year for follow up,” he said.
“All these are doable now in Bahrain, which means patients will not have to travel abroad and will be treated according to international standards, saving money which could be used to treat more patients.
“Moreover, it will allow patients to be with their families and new generation of technicians will get to learn these techniques adding to the expertise.
“We are gearing up to do HSCT on two more Bahraini patients in the coming days.”
Mr Ahmed’s care team was headed by Professor Mustafa Cetin from Turkey along with Professor Leylagul Kaynar, Dr Esra Ermis Turak and Dr Koray Demir.
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