What is Aplastic Anemia?

Aplastic anemia is a rare and serious condition in which the body’s bone marrow fails to manufacture enough red blood cells, white blood cells or platelets. Without the proper amounts of these life-nourishing cells, the body cannot stay healthy – which is why precise, personalized and rapid treatment is essential. Advanced options for treating aplastic anemia include blood transfusions, immunosuppressants, bone marrow stimulants, antiviral and antibiotic drugs, and bone marrow transplant. When it comes to severe cases, an aplastic anemia bone marrow transplant is often the only successful therapy.

How is Aplastic Anemia Bone Marrow Transplant Performed in Israel?

The goal of a bone marrow transplant for aplastic anemia is to rebuild the bone marrow so it can sustain life. Done while the patient is hospitalized, the procedure involves depleting diseased bone marrow with chemotherapy or radiation and then intravenously infusing healthy donor stem cells into the patient. The new stem cells travel to the bone marrow, where they begin to produce new blood cells.

At Sheba Medical Center, the transplant is done at the hospital’s state-of-the-art Bone Marrow Transplantation Department, which offers patients the following features:

• 25 private inpatient rooms
• Outpatient treatment unit
• Clinical laboratory
• Cell therapy and immunotherapy unit
• Apheresis stem cell collection and cryopreservation service

Personalized Therapy

Aplastic anemia can range from mild to severe, and every case is unique. It can appear at any age, either showing up suddenly with extreme symptoms or deteriorating gradually. At Sheba’s Hematology Division and Bone Marrow Transplantation Department, specialists evaluate each patient’s condition thoroughly to customize the most suitable treatment program.

Pediatric Aplastic Anemia Treatment

When children suffer from mild or moderate aplastic anemia, their condition can sometimes be managed to allow them to be physically active and independent. However, when kids have severe aplastic anemia, bone marrow transplantation with cells from a healthy matched donor (a sibling or related family member is ideal) is frequently the preferred treatment.

Experienced Specialists

Over 2,000 bone marrow transplants have been performed at this department – a clear attestation of the specialist experience of the Sheba medical team.

Leading physicians perform bone marrow transplant for aplastic anemia in Israel, including Prof. Arnon Nagler, Director of the Department of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation and pioneer of many leading-edge treatments for blood disorders. Prof. Amos Toren, Director of Pediatric Hemato-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, is another prominent member of the staff. With a specialty in pediatrics, he is a world-renowned doctor in the field of bone marrow transplantation and pediatric aplastic anemia treatment.

Patient “AM” Shares Her Success Story

After six months of suffering through grueling transfusion therapy for aplastic anemia in Moscow, AM’s condition didn’t improve. She was deteriorating rapidly, with no time to waste. It was clear that an aplastic anemia bone marrow transplant was necessary, so she travelled to Sheba Medical Center in Israel.

She was overwhelmed by the compassion and organization of the staff at Sheba’s International Medical Tourism Division, who took care of all the necessary paperwork to help expedite her life-saving bone marrow transplant. The procedure went well, and she was discharged two weeks later.
Read the full story here.