In a medical achievement, a two-month-old girl from Karwar, Karnataka, has made history as the youngest recipient of a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor at Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in Mumbai.
Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Wadia Hospitals, highlighted the significance of this milestone, stating, “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.”
The infant was referred to Wadia Hospital at just 19 days old with a diagnosis of ‘bubble baby syndrome,’ medically known as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). Babies with SCID are born without an immune system, leaving them susceptible to life-threatening infections. The genetic defect associated with SCID leads to a deficiency in T cells, a crucial component of the immune system. Without a bone marrow transplant, most children with SCID do not survive infections before their first birthday.
While primary immunodeficiencies are rare, affecting 1 in 100,000 people, life-threatening immunodeficiencies can be completely cured with a bone marrow transplant.
The parents of the baby faced adversity when their first child was diagnosed with SCID, ultimately losing the child to infections before their first birthday. When their second child was born, doctors in Mangalore confirmed the SCID diagnosis, initiating a race against time to undergo a transplant before infections set in.
Referred to the bone marrow transplant unit at Wadia Hospital from Mangalore, the medical team, led by Dr. Ambreen Pandrowala and Dr. Prashant Hiwarkar, played a crucial role. The girl had multiple fully matched donors in three Indian bone marrow registries. These registries worked tirelessly 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 to the bone marrow transplant unit, and precautions were taken to avoid exposure to bugs,” the hospital stated.