Sickle cell anemia is a recessive genetic disorder characterized by mis-shaped and non-functional RBC (Red Blood Cells). In severe cases, this leads to kidney failure, stroke, lung disease and blood clots. The most successful and trusted treatmentfor this fatal disease is bone marrow transplantation, with the use of narcotics to reduce the pain. But this often becomes difficult with the limited availability of fully matched donors.
It has been recently proved that half-matched bone transplants give similar result in the treatment of sickle cell as fully-matched transplants.The transplants were from family members and the procedure was carried out after a mild immuno-suppression pre-procedure.
The results were mesmerizing with more than 70% success rate. This study gives a hope to millions of such patients who can survive this fatal disease even with partially matched donors. But it’s also important to take into consideration the medical history of the patient being treated and also the history of the donor should be studied thoroughly. This half-matched bone marrow transplantation’s success rate also depends on age of the patients. It was found that adults accepted the transplants in better way than the children.
Keeping all these factors into consideration the partially matched transplantation would definitely work to eradicate this disease.