Bone marrow transplantation in clinics of Belarus
Bone marrow is an important organ of the hematopoietic system and malfunctions in its work cause serious dysfunction of blood cells. When, for some reason, the internal environment of the body - the blood - does not cope with its mission, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is necessary. This is a manipulation during which the patient`s bone marrow is replaced with a healthy bone marrow.
If there is a need for such an operation, it is not at all necessary to go to foreign countries - Belarusian hematologists successfully cope with this task. Specialists have been involved in bone marrow transplantation in Belarus for more than 25 years and performed about 1.8 thousand transplantations. Moreover, half of the patients were children.
During this period, hematologists managed to significantly reduce postoperative mortality. Today it is no more than 2%.
An important result of the treatment is the absence of the need to take immunosuppressive drugs for life, after six months the patient becomes practically healthy. And this is not the only advantage of operations carried out in Belarus.
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Benefits of bone marrow transplantation in Belarus
The main advantages of BMT:
- In Belarus, bone marrow transplantation is possible from unrelated donors, while it is banned in Europe and many others;
- Extensive experience of specialists - 230-250 bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants are performed per year in the hematology departments, which allows doctors to improve their skills;
- Organization of specialized patient care - patients who have undergone bone marrow transplantation in Belarus are placed in special wards equipped with an air filtration system. The staff of the clinics keep a close eye on the system;
- The affordable cost of the operation - BMT in Minsk will cost 25% less than in European centers.
What types of BMT are performed in Belarus?
Most often patients with diseases such as leukemia, various forms of lymphomas, myelomas, and anemias need bone marrow replacement.
Hematology specialists use several types of bone marrow transplants in Belarus. Each of them has its own characteristics:
- Autologous BMT - own blood stem cells of patient are transplanted to him.
- Allogenic transplantation from a related donor - donor material from a relative person is used.
- Allogenic transplantation from an unrelated donor - stem cells are taken from a compatible donor who is not a relative.
The choice of the type of transplantation depends on many factors: the effectiveness of conservative treatment, the age of the patient, and concomitant diseases. Also level of urgency of surgery is taken into account.
Cost of bone marrow transplantation in Belarus
During the initial treatment, you will not be able to find out the final price of a bone marrow transplant.
The cost of BMT can be affected by:
- The type of disease that requires a bone marrow or stem cell transplant;
- Stage of development of the disease;
- The presence of complications and associated diseases;
- Selected type of transplantation;
- Pricing policy of the clinic.
For children, more sophisticated treatment technologies are used, drugs cost much more, so the cost of BMT in a child will be higher than in an adult.
On average, the cost of bone marrow transplantation in Belarus is 120 thousand dollars, which is a quarter lower than in developed countries of Europe or in Israel.
The operation itself is technically not too complicated and does not take much time. But a long postoperative period, during which the patient must be fully protected from infections, may require additional significant costs.
Violetta YanyshevskaAuthor and medical editor
