Doctors from Vietnam’s National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion successfully used a cord blood transplant to treat a young thalassaemia patient this week. Three-year-old boy Tran Gia Hung received a cord blood transplant to treat his thalassaemia, a dangerous blood disorder.

Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder which makes the body produce abnormal haemoglobin red blood cells. The abnormal cells struggle to carry oxygen around the body. The condition can lead to anaemia and has symptoms that include weakness, fatigue and shortness of breath. Some organs can also struggle to work correctly if they receive insufficient levels of oxygen.

This was the first cord blood transplant of its kind in Vietnam and has been a stunning success. The stem cells used in the procedure came from the patient’s two-year-old sister.  

One of the doctors involved, Dr. Nguyen Ba Khanh, said that without the transplant the young boy would require blood transfusions throughout his life. He would also be at increased risk of kidney failure and have excessive amounts of iron in his blood.

The director of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Nguyen Anh Tri, suggests that the transplant is great news for thalassaemia sufferers in Vietnam. More than 10 million people in Vietnam carry the gene that causes thalassaemia and more than 20,000 people suffer from the condition.  Many of those people could potentially be treated with a cord blood transplant.

Source: Cord Blood Transplant Saves Life of a Young Thalassemia Patient

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