Clipping Board » New Knowledge and the Unknown of Life ─ Life will always bring you surprises and wonders.
【United Daily News / Compiled by Zhuang Huijia / Comprehensive Sydney 24 Foreign News】 2008.01.25
15-year-old Australian girl Demi-Lee Brennan underwent a liver transplant at the age of nine, and the donor's stem cells entered her bone marrow after the surgery, changing her blood type. Doctors were amazed, considering it a one in six billion miracle, and her attending physician also stated that he had never seen such a case before.
The attending physician, hepatologist Dr. Stormon, said that this special case was the result of "a series of accidents." When Brennan was nine years old, she suffered from a special type of liver failure and was in critical condition, receiving a liver transplant from a 12-year-old boy. After a 10-hour surgery, doctors gave her immunosuppressive drugs to reduce organ rejection.
However, Brennan contracted the "human cytomegalovirus," which lowered her immunity. While this is bad news for most transplant patients, it was a life-changing opportunity for Brennan. The combined effects of the drugs and the infection caused Brennan's own immune system to weaken, allowing the donor's stem cells to spread from the liver into her bone marrow, the center of blood production, and take over her immune system. Nine months after the surgery, Brennan's condition worsened, and she was readmitted to the hospital, where medical staff discovered that her blood type had changed from O-negative to O-positive.
The hospital initially thought it was a mistake, but upon retesting Brennan's parents' blood types, both were O-negative, meaning Brennan must have originally been O-negative. Therefore, the doctors decided to stop giving her immunosuppressive drugs, and her condition improved.
Dr. Stormon stated that a series of factors led to the donor's stem cells taking over Brennan's immune system, and her case was fortunate. Dr. Stormon has presented this case worldwide and has yet to encounter a similar situation. Brennan's mother described her daughter's recovery as a miracle, and Brennan said, "I am deeply grateful to the medical staff for saving my life." She is now a healthy and active teenager.
The biggest challenge in organ transplantation today is the potential for post-operative rejection. Medical professionals are currently studying Brennan's case to understand the mechanisms of donor stem cells and the recipient's immune system, and to explore whether this can benefit other organ transplant patients. This research was published in the January 24 issue of the "New England Journal of Medicine."
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ WORLD/ WOR4/ 4195398. shtml
Australian Girl's Blood Type Changes after Liver Transplant
15-year-old Australian girl Demi-Lee Brennan underwent a liver transplant at the age of nine, and the donor's stem cells entered her bone marrow after the surgery, changing her blood type. Doctors were amazed, considering it a one in six billion miracle, and her attending physician also stated that he had never seen such a case before.
The attending physician, hepatologist Dr. Stormon, said that this special case was the result of "a series of accidents." When Brennan was nine years old, she suffered from a special type of liver failure and was in critical condition, receiving a liver transplant from a 12-year-old boy. After a 10-hour surgery, doctors gave her immunosuppressive drugs to reduce organ rejection.
However, Brennan contracted the "human cytomegalovirus," which lowered her immunity. While this is bad news for most transplant patients, it was a life-changing opportunity for Brennan. The combined effects of the drugs and the infection caused Brennan's own immune system to weaken, allowing the donor's stem cells to spread from the liver into her bone marrow, the center of blood production, and take over her immune system. Nine months after the surgery, Brennan's condition worsened, and she was readmitted to the hospital, where medical staff discovered that her blood type had changed from O-negative to O-positive.
The hospital initially thought it was a mistake, but upon retesting Brennan's parents' blood types, both were O-negative, meaning Brennan must have originally been O-negative. Therefore, the doctors decided to stop giving her immunosuppressive drugs, and her condition improved.
Dr. Stormon stated that a series of factors led to the donor's stem cells taking over Brennan's immune system, and her case was fortunate. Dr. Stormon has presented this case worldwide and has yet to encounter a similar situation. Brennan's mother described her daughter's recovery as a miracle, and Brennan said, "I am deeply grateful to the medical staff for saving my life." She is now a healthy and active teenager.
The biggest challenge in organ transplantation today is the potential for post-operative rejection. Medical professionals are currently studying Brennan's case to understand the mechanisms of donor stem cells and the recipient's immune system, and to explore whether this can benefit other organ transplant patients. This research was published in the January 24 issue of the "New England Journal of Medicine."
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ WORLD/ WOR4/ 4195398. shtml