Chronic Granulomatous Disease

Chronic Granulomatous Disease is a rare disease. It is estimated to occur once in 250,000 individuals. Most often CGD is inherited as an X-linked recessive pattern, although in about 40 percent of patients the disease is inherited with an autosomal recessive pattern.

Patients with CGD characteristically have increased infection. When patients with CGD become infected, they often have extensive inflammatory reactions despite the administration of appropriate antibiotics. Aphthous ulcers and chronic inflammation of the nares are usually present. Granulomas are frequent and can obstruct the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tracts.

Blood in the placenta contains bone marrow stem cells. This fact was made use by the doctors to treat a rare disease known as Chronic Granulomatous Disease in a child. Dr. Andrew Cant, director of the children’s bone marrow transplant unit claim it is the first time the treatment has been used.July 04, 2002A 3-year-old north Wales boy, Tom Stretch with a life-threatening condition has been cured after a pioneering treatment involving his mother’s placenta. This child was suffering from CGD and needed a bone marrow transplant to combat a blood defect which had left him unable to fight off germs. The boy had a series of serious pneumonias and an inflamed bowel.

He needed bone marrow transplant and there was no immediately suitable bone marrow donor. After his mother Joanne gave birth to his sister Hannah at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in north Wales in November last year doctors preserved the placenta. The blood was kept in a bank at Newcastle General Hospital’s specialist children’s bone marrow transplant unit. Doctors decided to try an infusion of the placenta blood containing the stem cells as an alternative to bone marrow transplant.

The treatment to infuse the cord blood into the vein took place 16 weeks ago and experts claim that Tom’s condition has now been cured and he is free of infection and his bowel inflammation is settling rapidly.

Its first time anywhere in the world that this technique has been used to treat CGD.

Stem Cell