Frequently Asked Questions

An angiogram & angioplasty is suggested to a patient if you experience, Radiating pain in your chest, jaw, neck or arms Abnormal results of a of heart stress test, ECG Problems related to blood vessel Injury to your chest Problems with valves of your heart which may require surgical intervention.  

Stent is a small, metal mesh tube placed in blood vessels during angioplasty to act as a scaffold and to reduce the chances of developing blocks in the future.

Angioplasty is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat blockages / narrowing of blood vessels.

Angiogram is a diagnostic procedure performed to identify any narrowing or block in the blood vessels.

Called a non-myeloablative or reduced-intensity transplant, a mini uses lower, less toxic doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation to prepare you for an allogeneic transplant. ​ Called a non-myeloablative or reduced-intensity transplant, a mini uses lower, less toxic doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation to prepare you for an allogeneic transplant.

The post-conditioning period and 3-4 weeks post-infusion are the most crucial for BMT and PBSCT patients as the chances of infection are at an all-time high. Our entire medical team is trained to observe international standards when it comes to hygiene and infection control so that you are ensured a safe, sterile environment to recuperate. The stem cells, after entering your bloodstream, travel to the bone marrow and begin to produce new white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets in a process known as “engraftment.” This usually occurs within about 2 to 4 weeks after the transplantation. Complete recovery of your immune function will take longer - up to several months for autologous transplant and 1 - 2 years for allogeneic or syngeneic transplants. We will evaluate your blood health through various tests including bone marrow aspiration to confirm whether new blood cells are being produced and there’s no relapse.

You will be infused with healthy, transplanted cells in the BMT unit through an IV line – just like you’d be on drips. As there will be no disease -fighting white blood cells and blood-clotting platelets after the conditioning, your susceptibility to infections will be extremely high. You’ll need to be extremely careful so that you don’t contract any infection and follow the doctor’s advise meticulously to avoid any complications. Since the stem cells used for autologous transplantation should relatively be free of cancer cells, the harvested cells can sometimes be treated before transplantation in a process known as “purging”. This process removes maximum cancer cells from the harvested cells and minimise the chance of reoccurrence.

If you are a bone marrow donor, you might feel tired and lethargic after donating the cells. However, you will return to normalcy in a few days or sometimes, in a few weeks. As it is a procedure done under anesthesia, you might need to do all relevant health checks before donating. Apheresis, however, is easier, except for occasional giddiness, headache, and some discomfort caused mainly due to the medicines given for increasing stem cells.

With advances in technology, obtaining cells from a donor or harvesting has become relatively simple. Bone marrow is harvested using a needle from the hip or at times breastbone area, after inducing general or local anesthesia. The harvested bone marrow is processed to remove blood and bone fragments, combined with a preservative, and frozen at sub-zero temperatures to keep the stem cells alive but dormant until required. This technique is known as cryopreservation. We have a cryopreservation unit where we can cryopreserve stem cells for many years. In order to harvest PBSCs, the donor is given medications to produce and release excess stem cells into the bloodstream. Called apheresis, blood is drawn from the donor and subject to a process that removes only the stem cells. The blood is then returned to the donor and the collected cells, stored in the cryopreservation unit. This usually takes 4 to 6 hours. We also obtain stem cells from the umbilical cord on consent, to treat children and adults. We can cryopreserve these cells or even the entire cord for years.