Stem Cells from Brother's Umbilical Cord May Save Boy's Life
By Tiara M. Ellis
The Dallas Morning News
March 25, 2002
The lifeline that nourished Isaac Davis inside his mother's womb may save his brother's life.
An umbilical cord blood transplant could be the answer to the sickle cell anemia that afflicts Joseph Davis II.
The ill 2-year-old's family had been searching for a matching blood donor for more than a year. Five months into her pregnancy with Isaac, Darlene Davis discovered that her unborn child was a match.
"I wasn't planning on getting pregnant, but I prayed for help," she said. "You just don't know how hard it is to watch your baby suffer."
Mrs. Davis and her husband, Joseph Davis Sr., had a difficult time getting pregnant with their first child. The Cedar Hill couple went to a fertility clinic and spent two months trying to conceive Joseph.
After his birth, when Mrs. Davis discovered that she had become pregnant again without the assistance of a fertility clinic, she said she knew Joseph had a match. Doctors tested the unborn child and confirmed her belief.
Joseph's sickle cell anemia was diagnosed a few weeks after his birth.
It was months before he became sick, but when he did, his feet and hands became so swollen that he had trouble wiggling his fingers and toes or crawling. He would wake up in the middle of the night crying in pain, Mrs. Davis said.
Mr. Davis is a nurse who treats people who are in pain, but he said it was hard to watch his namesake hurting.
"There's nothing you can do but try to treat the symptoms," he said.
Joseph has been hospitalized for problems with his bones and spleen. His abnormally rigid red blood cells enter blood vessels and clog the pathways, causing swelling and pain, said Dr. Carl Lenarsky of North Texas Hospital for Children at Medical City Dallas Hospital. Dr. Lenarsky has worked with Joseph throughout his illness.
"Sickle cell anemia is never good, but some are more severely afflicted than others," Dr. Lenarsky said. "Joseph had 10 to 15 hospital visits over the last year and a half with some painful crises."
Doctors had considered a stem cell transplant, but a yearlong search found no matches.
Several factors are required for a cord transplant from a relative to be considered. The mother has to be pregnant, tests must show that the unborn child does not have the same disorder, and the fetus must have matching stem cells.
There is a one in four chance that a sibling will be a stem cell match, Dr. Lenarsky said.
It wasn't until Mr. and Mrs. Davis gave birth to their first child that they found out both of them were carriers of the sickle cell anemia trait. And they did not want to take the chance of subjecting a second child to the same disease.
"Even if we did have another child, there was no guarantee he would have been a match," Mr. Davis said. "And we would have to worry about him becoming sick, too."
Joseph may not know that his brother could save his life, but he shows love for his sibling nonetheless. Recently, between attempts to climb into a corner of his mother's lap that isn't occupied by Isaac, he planted wet kisses on the newborn's head and cheeks.
Doctors plan to perform the transplant in early May. The stem cells from the umbilical cord have been preserved. Doctors will give Joseph high doses of chemotherapy to destroy the bone marrow that is producing sickle cells. Then the stem cells will be infused into the older sibling's body. As the cells grow into the child's bone marrow, they should create healthy cells.
Mrs. Davis is not worried about the transplant, though Dr. Lenarsky cautions that the procedure has risks.
"I don't fear anymore because I am closer to God," she said. "He has done all this."
