Specialists at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) helped a woman with an extremely rare blood disorder conceive and deliver a baby.
The milestone in the woman’s life was no less than a miracle as pregnancy was a strict no-no for her because of her disease called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) — seen in less than 10 persons (including two women) per 10 lakh persons.
In the condition, the patient’s immune system attacks and damages the person’s red blood cells and platelets.
As a result, his/her chances of developing clots are extremely high. The clots may travel to lungs, heart or brain and cause the patient’s death.
“For PNH patient women, pregnancy is contra-indicated as the clot inside a patient’s body may eventually obstruct oxygen supply from mother to child causing loss of the baby. So even if a woman conceives, successful pregnancy is extremely rare,” said Dr Sanjeev, faculty haematology, SGPGI.
He said that in PNH women, foetal death is almost certain as sooner or later.
Prof Rajesh Kashyap, head, haematology department, said, “This is surely the first successful case at our centre. In clinical practice, about 100 such cases have been recorded across the world. This includes 2-3 cases from medical centres in India, including PGI Chandigarh.”
This patient reached SGPGI with complaints of chronic anaemia and jaundice in June 2021.
Though aware of the risks involved, the patient expressed the desire to plan her baby.
After preparing her body with required medicines, including low intensity steroids and effective monitoring, the patient could conceive in March 2023. And in November she delivered a healthy baby girl weighing 2.8 kilograms under the supervision of Dr Priyanka Trivedi.
“The gamechanger in this case was that the patient was a doctor herself (Rekha Shukla) which means that she was also able to monitor her condition. Effective and regular monitoring of the patient helped in achieving the feat,” said Dr Sanjeev.
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