12-year-old undergoes successful first ‘half matched bone marrow transplant’

A rare genetic disorder, Fanconi anaemia is a type of inherited bone marrow failure syndrome. In this, the patient’s body is unable to produce RBCs and thus needs to undergo blood transfusion frequently. As these patients reach the age of 40, 90% of them tend to develop bone marrow failure while the remaining 10% suffer from cancer.
Zaid Ali Khadim was admitted to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with the condition. After obtaining positive results, the transplant was carried out. In most cases, bone marrow transplant is the only way to treat these patients. This involves replacing the disease forming blood cells with healthy stem cells from the donor. (Read: 10 facts you must know about blood transfusion)