Doctors collect stem cells from the patient's mother at Huế Central Hospital in Thừa Thiên Huế Province. VNA/VNS Photos

HÀ NỘI — Huế Central Hospital on Monday evening announced it had successfully carried out an allogeneic bone marrow transplant to treat Thalassaemia in a child, using stem cells from the patient’s mother despite blood group incompatibility.

The breakthrough is believed to offer fresh hope for children with inherited blood disorders like this condition.

The young patient was in stable condition following the operation and was discharged the same day.

Six-year-old V.Q.C., from the northern province of Bắc Ninh, was diagnosed with beta-Thalassaemia at six months old and has since required monthly blood transfusions.

From the age of three, the child also underwent iron chelation therapy. MRI scans later revealed moderate iron overload in the liver.

Upon admission to the hospital, compatibility testing showed a Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) match of 11/12 between the child and his mother.

The hospital’s board consulted with its internal departments and Italian specialists before scheduling the transplant for August 11.

This was a particularly challenging case, as mother and child had incompatible blood groups.

Traditionally in Việt Nam, such cases required red blood cell depletion after harvesting bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells, with some hospitals also administering Rituximab.

The child patient at the hospital.

New technique

For V.Q.C., doctors adopted a new immunotolerance technique, gradually transfusing the donor’s blood group into the recipient’s body in increasing volumes.

Alongside transfusions, the child was also given fluids and anti-allergy medication.

Professor Phạm Như Hiệp, Director of the Huế Central Hospital, said antibody levels were tested after four days of transfusion to determine the next steps.

If the antibody titre was below 1/32, donor stem cells could be infused directly without red cell depletion; only the titres equal to or above 1/32 required additional processing.

The approach reduces costs while preserving a greater number of stem cells for the patient.

The procedure marked the hospital’s third allogeneic Thalassaemia transplant involving blood group incompatibility, and the first in Việt Nam to use bone marrow from a mother.

During treatment, the patient experienced complications including infection, bladder bleeding and mild graft-versus-host disease affecting the skin.

Thanks to close monitoring, cross-department collaboration and the hospital’s modern equipment, the child gradually improved.

Platelet and neutrophil counts recovered by days 20 and 24 respectively, and the patient was discharged 28 days after the transplant.

Common disorder

Thalassaemia is a common inherited blood disorder.

Each year, an estimated 2,000-2,500 children in Việt Nam are diagnosed with severe forms of the disease.

The patients require lifelong blood transfusions and iron chelation therapy, which can lead to complications affecting the heart, liver, kidneys, endocrine system, bones and overall physical and mental development.

The burden of care places heavy strain on both families and society.

Only around 20 per cent of siblings have suitable HLA compatibility, and just 5 per cent of cases involve matches with either parent.

Parent-child transplants therefore require different conditioning regimens compared with sibling donors.

The hospital has been performing paediatric stem cell transplants since 2019, beginning with solid tumours such as high-risk neuroblastoma, metastatic retinoblastoma and relapsed lymphoma, before moving to allogeneic transplants for Thalassaemia.

Since September 2024, Huế Central Hospital formally launched stem cell transplants for the condition, becoming the first centre in the central and Central Highlands region and the second nationwide to offer the advanced therapy.

The hospital has carried out 61 paediatric stem cell transplants so far, including 11 allogeneic transplants for children with Thalassaemia, the highest number of its kind in Việt Nam within a single year.

All patients are now healthy and no longer dependent on blood transfusions.

Looking ahead, doctors at the hospital plan to expand into haploidentical transplants for Thalassaemia patients without a fully compatible sibling or parental donor, offering new hope to families previously without curative options.— VNS