Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children has completed the first local bone marrow collection since the service was lost nearly a year ago as part of the closure of Hawaii Medical Center.
The procedure was done Nov. 29 for the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the local branch of the National Marrow Donor Program, which has a database of more than 10 million.
| DONATING MARROW
>> For one to register as a potential donor, his DNA must be collected through swabbing in the mouth, which is then used for tissue typing that is entered into a worldwide database. The local collection center comes into play once a match is found.
>> Two sources of cells can be used for transplants. Bone marrow is collected from the hip bone through a large needle. Blood stem cells are extracted through intravenous catheters placed in the arm. A special machine removes the blood, extracts the stem cells, then puts the blood back into a donor.
>> Donors are matched with patients by tissue typing and a number of factors that include age, gender, ethnicity and blood type.
For more information, contact the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry at 547-6154.
|
"It’s been almost a year," said Laura Bonilla, executive director of the pediatric service line for Hawaii Pacific Health, the hospital’s parent company. "It’s the first collection we’ve been able to do since HMC closed for the donor registry, so that’s been really exciting. It’s very important. A transplant right now is a lifesaving procedure."
Since Hawaii Medical Center-East in Liliha was shuttered, adult bone marrow donors identified as matching nonfamily recipients had to fly to the mainland for bone marrow collection, which is estimated to cost as much as $25,000. Costs associated with travel are billed to the transplant patient but don’t include lost wages, child care and other costs for the donor.
"This benefits not just the patients, but the generous volunteers from Hawaii who donate on their behalf," said Randal Wada, Kapiolani’s medical director for the transplant program. "These are clearly critical services that if not restored could jeopardize our ability to provide this lifesaving option for our patients."
Kapiolani received approval in August by the National Marrow Donor Registry to restart the program as a National Marrow Donor Program Collection Center, which allowed donors to remain in Hawaii.
"It’ll definitely make it more accessible for donors to donate," said Renee Chung, donor program manager at the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry. "If I heard that I could donate locally versus take off a week and go to the mainland, I would be more inclined to donate."
The center will collect bone marrow and stem cells from donors who match patients with aggressive life-threatening cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Many of them need a transplant within months, or weeks, to survive.
The hospital has collected bone marrow from related donors for its pediatric and young adult transplant patients for more than 20 years.
In the past two decades, 338 Hawaii residents have donated bone marrow collected from the hip bone through a large needle, or blood stem cells extracted through intravenous catheters placed in the arm.
Kapiolani is hoping to get approval for stem cell collections in the next year. It expects to perform 10 to 15 bone marrow collections a year and as many as 30 once stem cell collections begin, Bonilla said.
The center collects bone marrow for both children and adult recipients but performs only pediatric transplants.
The Queen’s Medical Center restored organ transplant services shortly after the critical service was lost when HMC closed. But there are still no adult bone marrow transplants being done there.
Kapiolani received a $500,000 matching grant from the state to restore the bone marrow collection center in Hawaii, which also lays the foundation for the possible return of an adult bone marrow transplant program.
"We hope eventually we will bring adult transplants here to the state," Bonilla added.
