Two-month-old becomes the youngest to get bone marrow transplant in Mumbai

Mumbai: A two-month-old girl who hails from Karnataka's Karwar has become the youngest to receive bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor at Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in Mumbai.

“This is one of the youngest transplant patients in the country to receive stem cells from a volunteer donor. It is satisfying to treat patients, including very young babies, at Wadia Hospital using complex therapies such as bone marrow transplantation,” said Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO, Wadia Hospitals.

The baby was referred to the Wadia Hospital at 19 days of life with a diagnosis of 'bubble baby syndrome,' known medically as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

Babies with SCID are born without an immune system, making them vulnerable to life-threatening infections. The genetic defect linked to SCID leads to a deficiency in T cells, which are a crucial component of our immune system. Without a bone marrow transplant, most children with SCID succumb to infections before reaching their first birthday.

While primary immunodeficiencies are rare, affecting 1 in 100,000 people, life-threatening immunodeficiencies can be entirely cured with a bone marrow transplant.

For her parents, adversities began soon after their first child was diagnosed with SCID. Despite trying their best, they lost the child to infections before her first birthday. A day after the second baby was born, doctors in Mangalore confirmed the diagnosis of SCID. With a diagnosis began a race against time to get her transplanted before she gets an infection.

She was referred to the bone marrow transplant unit at Wadia Hospital from Mangalore.

The two transplant physicians involved were Dr Ambreen Pandrowala and Dr Prashant Hiwarkar.

The girl had multiple full matched donors in three Indian bone marrow registries. All the registries worked round the clock to confirm a donor for her transplant. “Time is crucial in children with SCID as infections can be fatal. While we waited for a full match donor, Anisha was admitted in the bone marrow transplant unit and care was taken to avoid exposure to bugs,” the hospital said. She received the stem cells the day after they were collected from the donor. The transplant is working well, and the baby girl has been discharged.