THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 14, 1994 TAG: 9407140650
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY VICKI CHENG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Shannon Saunders was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when he was a baby.
By the time he was 4, he started having pain attacks so debilitating he ended up in the hospital up to six times a year.
When he was 10, he had a stroke.
But now, at age 13, his doctors say he is essentially cured of the inherited blood disorder.
Shannon looked small but healthy at a news conference at UNC Hospitals Wednesday. He was the first person in the state to receive a bone marrow transplant as a treatment for sickle cell anemia.
``Before I had the transplant, I'd get tired easily,'' Shannon said as he sat next to his mother, Sharron Saunders. ``Now I can go out to play basketball and stuff. I wouldn't have lived past age 30 without the transplant.''
Dr. Joseph Wiley, director of the pediatric bone marrow transplantation program at UNC Hospitals, said there have been about 25 other such treatments across the United States, and an additional 50 or 60 worldwide.
He said not all of the patients have survived the procedure. A few have died of complications related to bleeding and infection.
``There still remains a bit of controversy as to how far transplantation should go in sickle cell treatment,'' he said. ``For children with less severe sickle cell anemia, life expectancy is close to normal.''
A bone marrow transplant would be an unnecessary risk for them, he said.
Wiley said 8 percent to 10 percent of children with sickle cell anemia have strokes by the time they're in their teens. Each has a 70 percent chance of having another. These are the children who should consider transplants.
Sickle cell anemia affects mostly blacks in the United States. A protein called hemoglobin in red blood cells transports oxygen throughout the body. In a sickle cell patient, those cells twist into contorted shapes, making them sticky.
The odd-shaped cells easily clog small blood vessels, which could lead to stroke, damage to bones and internal organs, and life-threatening infections.
Dr. Gary Jones, assistant professor of pediatrics, said Shannon was at the point where he needed monthly blood transfusions to prevent another stroke. But the frequent transfusions cause a build-up of iron in the body.
``There was a needle in his arm for seven hours every night to get the iron out,'' his mother said.
The situation was only getting worse. Shannon's body started developing antibodies that rejected other people's red blood cells, making it harder to find compatible blood for transfusions.
The actual bone marrow transplant took place March 1. Shannon was lucky enough to have a matching blood marrow donor - his 8-year-old sister Teairra. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo
Shannon Saunders, who received a bone marrow transplant for sickle
cell anemia, poses with Dr. Joseph Wiley, director of pediatric bone
marrow transplantation at UNC Hospitals, in Chapel Hill.
KEYWORDS: BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT SICKLE CELL ANEMIA
by CNB