Boy’s cord blood cures sister’s thalassemia

Chennai: Eighteen months after her birth in November 2000, S Thamirabharuni was diagnosed with thalassemia, a blood disorder that requires frequent transfusions. When her mother had to abort her next two pregnancies fearing a repeat of the disorder in the children, it looked like Thamirabharuni would neither have a good life nor a sibling. But today she has both—doubling the family's joy is her brother who also turned out to be her saviour.      Giving a happy ending to a poignant family tale and raising new hopes of leveraging stem cell therapy, a group of doctors and specialists in Chennai and Coimbatore have registered the first successful treatment of thalassemia in a child using a sibling's cord blood. Stem cells extracted from the cord blood during the birth of the boy, Pugazhendi, last year, were transplanted in Thamirabharuni in March. After the mandatory five-month observation period, doctors on Wednesday announced that Thamirabharuni had been cured of thalassemia.      The genetic disorder that affects the production of haemoglobin in red blood cells that carry oxygen to various parts of the body has remained a challenge to doctors the world over. "Thamira looked and behaved healthy for more than a year. Then, one day she went pale suddenly. Doctors initially treated her for jaundice, but when she did not recover, they did a blood test,'' said her father Senthil Kumar, a carpenter from Coimbatore. "That's when I first heard the word thalassemia.'' BROTHER ACT 'Injections hurt, I had lost my hair'  Chennai: For Coimbatore carpenter Senthil Kumar, the news that his infant daughter Thamirabharuni was suffering from thalassemia, a disease he had never heard of before, came as a shock. Coimbatore Medical College doctors told Kumar his daughter should undergo blood transfusion every month. "When we first saw her, she was very anaemic and needed frequent transfusion,'' said Dr V Bhooma, assistant professor at the college.      Every month, Thamirabharuni's little hands were pricked. "It hurt,'' said Thamirabharuni. Despite the transfusion, she remained weak. "She would complain of pain in legs and was not able to play with her friends,'' said her mother Sarojini, a housewife. "I aborted my second pregnancy. A few months later, I was pregnant again. This time, I consulted a doctor.'' That was when Dr R Thiruveni, obesterician-gynaecologist at Sri Krishna Speciality Hospital in Coimbatore, advised her to go in for a prenatal diagnostic test. Fifteen days later, the report confirmed their biggest fear that the foetus suffered from thalassemia. Sarojini went in for another abortion.      The couple then met Dr Revathy Raj, consultant paediatric haemato-oncologist at Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai.  "We told the doctor that we had decided not to have any more kids, but she advised us to have another baby. She told us that the cord blood from a healthy baby could be used to treat Thamira,'' said Kumar. Sarojini became pregnant again, and this time luck smiled. Tests showed that the foetus had healthy blood cells. LifeCell, which banks cord blood cells, offered to store the stem cells free of cost. After Sarojini's delivery in a Coimbatore hospital, the cord blood cells were brought to the Chennai laboratory, where it was processed and stored in liquid nitrogen at -196°C. It was still a long road ahead. The couple kept their fingers crossed as the tissues had to match. The test showed a perfect match. Then came another challenge: They had to keep Rs 10 lakh for the therapy Thamirabharuni had to undergo. "As I could not afford the treatment, I requested NGOs and philanthropists. Everyone helped willingly,'' said Kumar.      Thamirabharuni underwent chemotherapy to destroy the diseased cells in the bone marrow before the transplant. "I lost my hair. They even shaved off what was left when I went for treatment in March. I was scared. I thought they would prick my veins again. But doctors made me feel comfortable,'' said the young girl. "Since then, her haemoglobin level has been maintained at 12.5 gm/dl. She doesn't carry diseased cells anymore,'' said LifeCell scientific officer Dr Ajit Kumar. TNN SISTER'S SAVIOUR: 8-yearold Thamirabharuni and 1.5-year-old Pugazhendi