Bone Marrow Transplant

Underlying Problem Requiring a Bone Marrow Transplant:
A bone marrow transplant is also referred to as a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This procedure is used as a treatment for both multiple myeloma and leukemia when chemotherapy will not be successful. It can also be used to treat severe combined immunodeficiency and congenital neutropenia in children and for aplastic anemia, sickle-cell disease, lymphoma, Ewing's Sarcoma, Hodgkin's disease, and a number of other conditions in people of all ages.

Treatment:
A bone marrow transplant requires as close of a match as possible to avoid "graft-versus-host-disease". The donated marrow is referred to as a graft. About 35 percent of the time, a patient will have a sibling who is a perfect match for the transplant. If this is not the case, then there are international bone marrow registries that can be used to look for a match. When using a graft from a donor, it is called "allogenic" bone marrow transplant. Sometimes the marrow is transplanted from one part of a patient's body to another. In this case it is a "autologous" bone marrow transplant.

The bone marrow harvest requires the donor-whether the recipient or not- to undergo a procedure. This is usually done under a general anesthetic. A needle is used to collect marrow from the rear hip bone from an area known as the "iliac crest". This will likely required multiple punctures in order to extract enough marrow.

The recipient of the bone marrow transplant will undergo chemotherapy or radiation for several days before the procedure in order to kill his or her own marrow and destroy any cancer cells residing there. The patient will likely have a catheter inserted into the chest to allow for the administration of drugs and the collection of blood samples. When the bone marrow transplant takes place, it will be infused through an IV, not as a surgery as is commonly believed.

Recovery from a Bone Marrow Transplant:
Within the next two to four weeks the patient will have a very compromised immune system. He or she will need to remain in the hospital receiving antibiotics, blood transfusions, and other medications while the marrow makes its way into the cavities of the bones. This is called "engraftment," and during this time, the patient may be somewhat quarantined, with visitors and medical staff wearing gloves and masks to minimize the risk of infection. Because a bone marrow transplant is so physically and psychologically exhausting, patients and their families may be encouraged to seek counseling.

Find Doctors Who Perform Bone Marrow Transplants

ALABAMA Auburn, AL Birmingham, AL Dothan, AL Florence, AL Gadsden, AL Mobile, AL Montgomery, AL Tuscaloosa, AL ALASKA Anchorage, AK ARIZONA Flagstaff, AZ Mohave County, AZ Phoenix, AZ Prescott, AZ Sierra Vista, AZ Tucson, AZ Yuma, AZ ARKANSAS Fayetteville, AR Fort Smith, AR Jonesboro, AR Little Rock, AR CALIFORNIA Bakersfield, CA Chico, CA Fresno, CA Gold Country, CA Humboldt County, CA Imperial County, CA Inland Empire, CA Los Angeles, CA Mendocino, CA Merced, CA Modesto, CA Monterey, CA Orange County, CA Palm Springs, CA Redding, CA Sacramento, CA San Diego, CA San Francisco, CA San Luis Obispo, CA Santa Barbara, CA Stockton, CA Ventura, CA Visalia, CA Yuba. Sutter, CA COLORADO Boulder, CO Colorado Springs, CO Denver, CO Fort Collins, CO Western Slope, CO CONNECTICUT Eastern, CT Hartford, CT New Haven, CT Northwest, CT DELAWARE Wilmington, DE FLORIDA Daytona Beach, FL Fort Myers, FL Gainesville, FL Jacksonville, FL Key West, FL Lakeland, FL Miami, FL Ocala, FL Orlando, FL Panama City, FL Pensacola, FL Saint Augustine, FL Saint Cloud, FL Sarasota, FL Space Coast, FL Tallahassee, FL Tampa, FL Treasure Coast, FL GEORGIA Athens, GA Atlanta, GA Augusta, GA Brunswick, GA Columbus, GA Macon, GA Savannah, GA Valdosta, GA HAWAII Statewide, HI IDAHO Boise, ID Eastern, ID Twin Falls, ID

ILLINOIS Bloomington, IL Carbondale, IL Champaign, Urbana, IL Chicago, IL Decatur, IL Peoria, IL Rockford, IL Springfield, IL INDIANA Bloomington, IN Fort Wayne, IN Indianapolis, IN Lafayette, IN Muncie, IN South Bend, IN Terre Haute, IN IOWA Ames, IA Boone, IA Cedar Rapids, IA Des Moines, IA Dubuque, IA Iowa City, IA Quad Cities, IA Sioux City, IA Waterloo, Cedar Falls, IA KANSAS Lawrence, KS Manhattan, KS Topeka, KS Wichita, KS KENTUCKY Bowling Green, KY Lexington, KY Louisville, KY Western, KY LOUISIANA Baton Rouge, LA Lafayette, LA Lake Charles, LA Monroe, LA New Orleans, LA Shreveport, LA MAINE Northern, ME Portland, ME MARYLAND Annapolis, MD Baltimore, MD Southern, MD Western, MD MASSACHUSETTS Boston, MA Cape Cod, MA South Coast, MA Watertown, MA Western, MA Worchester, MA MICHIGAN Ann Arbor, MI Central, MI Detroit, MI Flint, MI Grand Rapids, MI Jackson, MI Kalamazoo, MI Lansing, MI Muskegon, MI Northern, MI Port Huron, MI Saginaw, MI Southwest, MI Upper Penninsula, MI MINNESOTA Duluth, MN Mankato, MN Minneapolis, St. Paul, MN Rochester, MN MISSISSIPPI Biloxi, Gulfport, MS Hattiesburg, MS Jackson, MS Northern, MS MISSOURI Joplin, MO Kansas City, MO Saint Louis, MO Southeast, MO Springfield, MO MONTANA Billings, MT Western, MT NEBRASKA Grand Island, NE Lincoln, NE Omaha, NE

NEVADA Las Vegas, NV Reno, NV NEW HAMPSHIRE Statewide, NH NEW JERSEY Central, NJ Northern, NJ Southern, NJ NEW MEXICO Albuquerque, NM Las Cruces, NM Roswell, Carlsbad, NM Santa Fe, Taos, NM NEW YORK Albany, NY Binghamton, NY Buffalo, NY Catskills, NY Chautauqua, NY Elmira, NY Hudson Valley, NY Ithaca, NY Long Island, NY New York, NY Plattsburgh, NY Rochester, NY Syracuse, NY Utica, NY NORTH CAROLINA Asheville, NC Charlotte, NC Eastern, NC Fayetteville, NC Greensboro, NC Hickory, NC Outer Banks, NC Raleigh, NC Wilmington, NC Winston Salem, NC NORTH DAKOTA Statewide, ND OHIO Akron, Canton, OH Athens, OH Cincinnati, OH Cleveland, OH Columbus, OH Dayton, OH Lima, Findlay, OH Mansfield, OH Sandusky, OH Toledo, OH Youngston, OH OKLAHOMA Lawton, OK Oklahoma City, OK Stillwater, OK Tulsa, OK OREGON Bend, OR Coastal Area, OR Corvallis, OR Eastern, OR Eugene, OR Medford, Ashland, Klamath, OR Portland, OR Roseburg, OR Salem, OR PENNSYLVANIA Altoona, PA Erie, PA Harrisburg, PA Jersey Shore, PA Lancaster, PA Lehigh Valley, PA Philadelphia, PA Pittsburgh, PA Poconos, PA Reading, PA Scranton, PA State College, PA Williamsport, PA York, PA RHODE ISLAND Providence, RI SOUTH CAROLINA Charleston, SC Columbia, SC Florence, SC Greenville, SC Hilton Head, SC Myrtle Beach, SC

SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre, SD Rapid City, SD Sioux Falls, SD TENNESSEE Chattanooga, TN Clarksville, TN Jackson, TN Knoxville, TN Memphis, TN Nashville, TN Tri-Cities, TN TEXAS Abilene, TX Amarillo, TX Austin, TX Beaumont, Port Arthur, TX Brownsville, TX College Station, TX Corpus Christi, TX Dallas, Fort Worth, TX El Paso, TX Galveston, TX Houston, TX Huntsville, TX Killeen, Temple, Ft. Hood, TX Laredo, TX Lubbock, TX McAllen, Edinburg, TX Odessa, TX San Antonio, TX San Marcos, TX Texarkana, TX Tyler, TX Victoria, TX Waco, TX Wichita Falls, TX UTAH American Fork, UT Brigham City, UT Cedar City, UT Kaysville, UT Layton, UT Logan, UT Ogden, UT Provo, Orem, UT Saint George, UT Salt Lake City, UT Spanish Fork, UT VERMONT Statewide, VT VIRGINIA Blacksburg, VA Charlottesville, VA Danville, VA Fredericksburg, VA Hampton, VA Lynchburg, VA Richmond, VA Roanoke, VA WASHINGTON Bellingham, WA Kennewick, WA Olympic Penninsula, WA Pullman, WA Seattle, WA Skagit, WA Spokane, WA Wenatchee, WA Yakima, WA Washington DC Washington, DC WEST VIRGINIA Charleston, WV Huntington, WV Martinsburg, WV Morgantown, WV Parkersburg, WV Wheeling, WV WISCONSIN Appleton, Oshkosh, FDL, WI Eau Claire, WI Green Bay, WI Janesville, WI Kenosha, Racine, WI La Crosse, WI Madison, WI Milwaukee, WI Sheboygan, WI Wausau, WI WYOMING Cheyenne, WY Northwest, WY Statewide, WY