A team of doctors at the Bannerghatta branch of Bengaluru’s Fortis Hospital performed a complex procedure and restored the vision of a three-year old girl from Dubai, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). It is a rare form of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells. Keeping in mind the age and challenges of the patient’s condition, a treatment plan involving a bone marrow transplant procedure was drawn up.
The patient was under treatment at another hospital when she began losing vision in both eyes. She was presented to the Fortis Cancer Institute after her condition continued to deteriorate. Doctors started the initial round of treatment with IV chemotherapy and the latest form of immunotherapy called BiTE Monoclonal Antibodies. However, her vision did not improve, and she did not respond to the treatment. After cancelling out radiation therapy as a possible treatment due to her age, a bone marrow transplant was carried out.
“We developed a novel treatment plan with the ophthalmologist. The baby received chemotherapy injection into the eyes, and after three doses of chemo, she regained complete vision in the right eye. Post treating her vision, we went ahead with immunotherapy and her leukaemia was in remission. Luckily, she had a fully matched sister from whom she underwent bone marrow transplantation and she tolerated it very well,” said Dr Neema Bhatt, Senior Consultant, Haematology, Paediatric Oncology and BMT.
At present, two months post treatment, the three-year-old girl was found to be completely cured of the cancer and also regained sight in both of her eyes. “The child is currently free of blood cancer and is able to see clearly, much to the delight of her parents,” added Dr Mangesh P Kamath, Senior Consultant, Medical Oncology and Hemato-Oncology.