Transplant 'miracle' as teen changes blood type
By Tamara McLean
January 24, 2008 02:05pm
Article from: AAP
A YOUNG transplant patient has defied medical science by spontaneously switching blood types and taking on her donor's immune system
NSW teenager Demi Brennan is believed to be the first person in the world to completely accept a donated organ to the extent where her immune system entirely changed.
Demi, now 15, suffered liver failure and had a liver transplant at the age of nine in 2001.
Several months on from the transplant, her doctors at Westmead Children's Hospital say theywere shocked to discover her blood type had changed to match the blood type of her deceased male donor.
On closer inspection, specialists found that stem cells from the donor liver had penetrated her bone marrow, effectively resulting in a naturally occurring bone marrow transplant.
Her doctor, Michael Stormon, said she was able to come off the anti-rejection drugs which most transplant patients needed to take for the rest of their lives.
"We were stunned, absolutely stunned, and also very puzzled," said Dr Stormon, who reported the case in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"Even going through the literature and seeking advice internationally we weren't able to find any other cases like it."
Demi's mother, Kerrie Mills, described it as "miraculous", and Dr Stormon agreed it was "still highly difficult to explain at this stage".
"We're not sure the reasons behind why this has happened but it may be that a complex range of circumstances have aligned to bring it about," he said.
"Now the task is to find out what those are so we can replicate them and allow other transplant patients to has such a complete acceptance."
A team of scientists has started research into the case, with hopes their findings will improve treatments and outcomes for other transplant patients.
