ARMENIAN STUDENT DONATES BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT TO ITALIAN CHILD

YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS: A five-year Italian child with
leukemia was saved after her genetic make up matched with that of a 22
year old Armenian student, Vahe Vardanian, who donated a bone marrow
transplant to the child.The operation was performed on July 6 in
Italy, but the experts say the result will be evident only in a year.
Vahe joined the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry last year Its
mission is to save precious Armenian lives by creating a bone marrow
donor registry which, with the volunteer recruitment of Armenian
donors worldwide, will increase the pool of existing international
donors and thus give a chance of survival to patients with leukemia or
other blood related diseases. Although Armenians are considered
Caucasian, their unique genetic make up makes it very hard for them to
find matches for transplantation.
Vahe was selected after the Italian bone marrow registry asked
their Armenian counterparts to find a suitable match. The registry has
now 8,000 members.