ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603040061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: MARIE JOYCE LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Some days, 1-year-old Zachary Edmonds probably seems more of a pain than a lifesaver to his big sister, Morgan.
Such as the evening he sat on the floor in the hallway of their Portsmouth home, smack in the path of Morgan's plastic car. Then, she fussed at him.
Someday 2-year-old Morgan will appreciate what Zachary has done for her. His birth may have given her a second chance at life.
Morgan needs a bone marrow transplant to combat a serious blood disease. She will be treated with stem cells that were taken from the blood of the placenta and umbilical cord immediately after Zachary's birth was born.
Umbilical-cord blood, which used to be thrown out, is now recognized as a rich supply of stem cells, the same type found in bone marrow. And that has made umbilical-cord blood a hot commodity in the medical and scientific world.
Doctors see in it a potential cure for many diseases, including leukemia, some types of cancers and AIDS.
Dr. R. Nathan Slotnick, an assistant professor in the obstetrics and gynecology department at Eastern Virginia Medical School, sees the day when collecting blood from the cord will be as routine as cutting it in the delivery room. Each newborn's stem cells would be stored. Like money in a savings account, the cells might be a hedge against future trouble. If the person ever needed a bone marrow transplant, the cells would be there, 100 percent compatible. They might also be used for a sibling, possibly even a parent.
It is ``kind of an insurance policy for a child being born,'' Slotnick said. In later years, if that child develops leukemia or breast cancer, ``we might be able to give that child the ability to be cured.''
The practice still poses a lot of unanswered questions, such as how long the frozen cells will keep. And it's not cheap.
The technique was first used in 1988. By the end of 1994, 62 transplants with stem cells from umbilical-cord blood had been performed worldwide.
So far, only about half a dozen families have taken advantage of Slotnick's program at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Americans a year who need a bone marrow transplant can't find a compatible donor.
Chris and Leslie Edmonds never thought about that during the births of their first two children - Morgan and Shane, 7.
Leslie Edmonds was seven months pregnant with Zachary in December 1994 when the family learned that Morgan was seriously ill. Bruises appeared all over her body. Just putting on socks could raise bruises on her legs.
She has thrombocytopenia, a disease that causes a severe drop in the number of platelets, small blood cells needed for clotting.
Treatment at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters made her well enough to go home. But because any minor injury could cause serious bleeding, doctors say she needs a bone marrow transplant.
No one in the family is a good match, so Morgan's doctor suggested the family turn to Slotnick to collect Zachary's cord blood.The process poses no risk to the mother or newborn - an advantage over bone marrow collection, which requires the donor to be anesthetized before a needle is inserted deep in the hip.
Immediately after Zachary's birth, the blood from the placenta was poured into a solution to keep it from clotting. It was taken on ice to a laboratory and put into a centrifuge. Then the extracted cells were frozen, using a technique that prevents cell breakdown.
Zachary, it turned out, wasn't a perfect match for his sister. But stem cells seem to be more tolerant of slight mismatches than cells taken from bone marrow. That reduces the risk that the new cells will attack Morgan's, a potentially fatal complication.
Morgan will have the transplant at Duke University's medical center, probably in the next few weeks.
Slotnick would like to find grant money to make the blood-saving procedure available to every baby born at Norfolk General. Some cells would be reserved for the baby. The rest, he said, might someday be tapped to benefit the community at large.
``If we do 5,000 deliveries at Norfolk General a year, and if we could do cord blood isolation for every one, we'd be developing a bone marrow bank that would be second to none in the world,'' he said.
In the meantime, the Edmondses say every parent who can afford it should pay to have the procedure. ``This is something everyone should do,'' Leslie Edmonds said, ``because you never know.''
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: VICKI CRONIS/Landmark News Service. Morgan Edmonds, 2,by CNBresting her head in her mother's lap, will receive transplanted stem
cells from the umbilical cord of her brother, Zachary, that will
help combat thrombocytopenia, a blood disease that lowers her
platelet count.