Published on April 2, 2021

Recently, a 43-year-old man was presented at Fortis Hospital, Noida, complaining of severe back pain. Upon investigation, it was found that he was suffering from a rare disease, multiple myeloma which is a type of cancer that forms in the white blood cells or plasma cells. Here cancerous plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow and crowd around the healthy blood cell that help in fighting infections by building antibodies, this puts the patients life at high risk. He therefore urgently required a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). Dr Rahul Bhargava, Director and Head, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Hospital, Noida and his team took a timely decision to go ahead with BMT to save his life.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. The bone marrow produces blood cells. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to different blood cells. Bone marrow transplant has now revolutionised. It is like a peripheral blood stem cell transplant, meaning, it is just like a blood transfusion (like platelet apheresis) which does not require any anesthesia.

Upon further investigation it was revealed that chemotherapy was required before BMT. Following the chemotherapy, on the 10thday of admission the team of doctors engulfed stem cells in the patients body which provided the body with a new source of healthy cells. Safe hospital environment and the doctors expertise in the area ensured that the BMT was done smoothly, without any complications and within 15 days the patient had been discharged. Usually, a patient takes 25-30 days to recover but here, due to patients will to recover and the facilities provided to him in the hospital he recovered at a faster pace.

Dr Rahul Bhargava, Director and Head, Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Hospital, Noida, said,The case was complicated as the patient was suffering from high-risk multiple myeloma, which is a rare form of cancer. We took the necessary precautions and performed chemotherapy first to which he responded well and post that a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) was performed successfully. The process was smooth, and no complications arose during the same. We request patients to not fear BMT and undergo the process when required.

Talking about the clinical excellence at Fortis Hospital, NOIDA,Mr Hardeep Singh, Zonal Director, Fortis Hospital, Noidasaid, The team at Fortis Hospital, Noida try their best to save lives and do not give up even if there is 1% chance of survival. The patient was suffering from high-risk multiple myeloma for which immediate bone marrow transplant was required. The case was managed extremely well and with a lot of patience by Dr Rahul Bhargava and his team. I applaud the team of doctors for their continued commitment towards clinical expertise and patient care.

Original post:
Timely Bone Marrow Transplant by Fortis gives new lease of life to a patient with Multiple Myeloma - APN News