Indore: Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital on Friday discharged one of the two patients who underwent pediatric bone marrow transplant surgery. Another patient, 18-monthold Viraj Choudhary, will be discharged on Saturday. The 8-year-old Nadir Hasan was the first patient of thalassemia who underwent bone marrow transplant at MY hospital, which was the first government hospital in MP to perform such a surgery and too for free.
Dr Prakash Satwani from the US initiated the transplant. Dean Dr Sharad Thora told mediapersons on Friday that bone marrow transplants in a government hospital cost Rs 20-25 lakh but they were performed for free in MY Hospital. “Dr Satwani didn’t charge for the transplant. We established the unit under his expertise along with giving training to two doctors of our hospital in his centre in the US,” he said. A three and half-year-old boy, resident of Pithampur, has been admitted to the unit and his transplant will be initiated on Monday. His five-year-old sister will donate bone marrow to him. About 28 patients are in line for BMT in MY Hospital.
Dr satwani monitored real time treatment from the US
After initiating transplant in the hospital, Dr Satwani left for the US and monitored the treatment through real time electronic monitoring system from there. “It was easy for me to monitor the patients from the US as it was day here and night there due to which I was able to manage. The unit in MY Hospital staff is trained. Another unit is being developed in Bhopal and MY Hospital’s unit will work as training centre for staff of new unit,” Dr Satwani said.
Talking about advancement in bone marrow transplant, he said, “Bone marrow transplant has been taking place in the US for long. Now, we are working on gene editing. It will take many years to come to India as it is expensive and costs 1 million dollars for one procedure.”
‘We Are Lucky’
Varsha Choudhary, mother of Viraj Choudhary, said that family didn’t know much about bone marrow transplant. “We are lucky that our child got rid of the disease at an early age. We are farmers and many questioned our decision of going through the bone marrow transplant. Viraj’s sister, three-year-old Vanshika had donated bone marrow to him and now both our children are healthy,” Varsha said.
There is relief now
Father of Nadir Hasan, school teacher in Bhopal, Nasir Hasan said he is satisfied as his child has been discharged and is healthy. “My wife Iffat Hasan who is also a school teacher stayed with Nadir at MYH for two months. There were periods of stress for us as certain procedures had to be started from zero. But with God’s grace and efforts of doctors, Nadir is healthy now,” he said. 14-year-old Ibtesam, who donated bone marrow to her brother, too expressed her satisfaction over the improvement in his brother’s health.