Bone marrow is the soft substance occupying the interior of bones. It is the site of formation of ERYTHROCYTES, granular LEUCOCYTES and PLATELETS.... bone marrow
The procedure by which malignant or defective bone marrow in a patient is replaced with normal bone marrow. Sometimes the patient’s own marrow is used (when the disease is in remission); after storage using tissue-freezing technique (cryopreservation) it is reinfused into the patient once the diseased marrow has been treated (autologous transplant). More commonly, a transplant uses marrow from a donor whose tissue has been matched for compatibility. The recipient’s marrow is destroyed with CYTOTOXIC drugs before transfusion. The recipient is initially nursed in an isolated environment to reduce the risk of infection.
Disorders that can be helped or even cured include certain types of LEUKAEMIA and many inherited disorders of the immune system (see IMMUNITY).... bone marrow transplant
A procedure to obtain a sample of cells from the bone marrow (aspiration biopsy) or a small core of bone with marrow inside (trephine biopsy). The sample is usually taken, under local anaesthesia, from the sternum (breastbone) or iliac crests (upper part of the hip-bones). Microscopic examination gives information on the development of the blood components
surrounding tissues. Radionuclide scanning detects areas throughout the skeleton in which there is high bone-cell activity. This type of scanning and on the presence of cells foreign to the marrow.
It is useful in the diagnosis of many blood disorders, including leukaemia and anaemia.
It can also show whether bone marrow has been invaded by lymphoma or cells from other tumours.... bone marrow biopsy
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