İZMİR DR. BEHÇET UZ CHİLDREN’S HOSPITAL
PEDIATRIC BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION CENTER
Stem cell transplant is the most important treatment method for certain blood diseases such as thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, myeloplastic syndrome; malign syndromes such as leukaemia, lymphoma and solid tumours; immune deficiencies and certain metabolic diseases. Stem cell transplant method is used for the treatment of more and more illnesses every day.
Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantatıon Center was established in 2018 for pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and accredited and authorized by Ministry of Health of Turkish Republic. The medical director of this unit is Assoc. Prof Salih GÖZMEN, MD.
This unit is designed to perform pediatric matched sibling, unrelated allogeneic, autologous transplants as well as haploidentical transplantations. It has six separate rooms with latest technology including positive air pressure and HEPA filters. The rooms in our center vary between 22 m2 to 26 m2. Each room has also an ante-room. Moreover, all rooms are equipped with the infrastructure required for intensive care. This unit also has ten additional rooms with positive air pressure and HEPA filters and sixteeen rooms in pediatric hematology-oncology inpatient service to support BMT unit. Our unit has also ‘Hematopoietic Stem Cell Processing Laboratory’ with specialized and trained staff.
The surgery of donors and recipients as well as their follow up monitoring is performed under contract with the SGK (Social Security Institution). Our center provides interpretation services in many languages with no cost for foreign patients.
Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital also has many other subspeciality features required for BMT and standards prescribed internationally such as pediatric intensive care unit with twenty-two beds, newborn intensive care unit, pediatric hematology-oncology department, emergency room, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric infectious diseases, genetics, metabolic diseases, pediatric immunology and allergy, pediatric respiratory medicine, pediatric cardiology, pediatric nephrology, pediatric neurology, pediatric radiology, pediatric romatology and pediatric surgery and urology.
Standards and unique features of our pediatric BMT Center, our laboratory are listed below:
Standards and unique features of our pediatric BMT Center
- HEPA-filtered rooms: Each room has its own dedicated Air Handling Unit (AHU) to provide 10-15 HEPA-filtered fresh air changes per hour. This means the fresh air entering the patients room is first treated through special filters. Treated fresh air then passes through 0.3 Micron High Efficiency particulate Air Filter (HEPA). Hepa removes all the bacteria, viruses and fungus. This hepafiltered air passes through a laminar floor to reach the patient’s room at the desired humidity and temperature, which is comfortable for the patient.
- Positive air-pressure rooms: Automatic and selective control system provides positive air pressure in the BMT room compared to ante room and the BMT corridor. This has been done to ensure that, on opening the door of the BMT Room or the ante room, no outside air from BMT Corridor can enter the patient’s room. Air pressure in Anteroom is 8-12 pascal higher than the BMT corridor and air pressure in BMT room is 8-12 pascal higher than the ante room.
- Rooms with ante-rooms: Ante room is a small room between the corridor and the BMT room for maintaining positive air pressure, All rooms in our unit has ante-rooms to prevent cross-contamination.
- Seamless vinyl surfaces surfaces throughout unit to eliminate colonization of infectious organisms.
- Specialized BMT pharmacy with the capacity to mix chemotherapy/immunotherapy agents
- Rooms with internet access
- BMT Unit is equipped with a dedicated X-ray machine, and ventilator.
- Each BMT room is furnished like an ICU with following facilities: Centralized oxygen and suction system with double outlets.
- Six parameter monitors, for monitoring heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, Central Venous Pressure and ECG. A central monitoring system to reach monitors from nurse desk.
- Infusion pumps and syringe pumps
- Television. Telephone, attendant bed
On-site Services:
Features of Laboratory Support
- Pathology services for routine and special tests, drug levels, haematology, biochemistry, bacterial and fungal cultures, Viral PCR, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and clinical pathology.
- CD34 + stem cell estimation
- Flowcytometry based diagnostics for leukemia, lymphoma.
- Detection of Minimal Residual Disease with flowcytometer (MRD).
- Conventional and Real Time PCR for Viral Pathogens
- Blood Bank and Apheresis:Blood bank meeting all standards has been set up with facilities like advanced blood transfusion services comprising of automated component extraction, leucoreductin apheresis and red cell serology.
Assoc. Prof Salih GÖZMEN, MD