Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 28, 1990 TAG: 9004280247
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium
Four years and a day after the Chernobyl disaster, marrow donated by a 42-year-old woman was flown to Seattle Friday for transfusion into Anatoly Grishchenko.
The marrow arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on a British Airways flight originating in Paris at 5 p.m. PDT. The operation began at 6:53 p.m., said Susan Edmonds of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
"He is ready," she said, adding that starting the procedure was as simple as hanging the bag of about one quart of marrow, and linking it to a device already hooked up to Grishchenko's body.
The marrow arrived one day after the fourth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine. The transplant procedure was expected to take from two to 10 hours.
In September 1988, Grishchenko was found to have a pre-leukemia condition, typified by low counts of blood platelets needed for clotting and of white blood cells to fight infection and disease.
Grishchenko, 53, is the first Chernobyl victim to receive medical care in the United States. He has up to a 75 percent chance of survival without a recurrence of the condition for five years, said Susan Edmonds of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The transplant was arranged by Cap Parlier, light helicopter testing and evaluation director for McDonnell Douglas Corp., who said he spoke with Grishchenko by telephone a few hours before the transfusion was set to begin.
The Soviet civilian helicopter test pilot, who arrived at Hutchinson on April 11, underwent a final round of radiation therapy Friday afternoon, Parlier said.
The transfusion, which can take two to 10 hours, would culminate a drama that began shortly after daybreak Friday at the Jean-Minjoz hospital in Besancon in east-central France.
Dr. Patricia Steward of the Hutchinson center arrived by helicopter at the French hospital's transfusion center and watched two French doctors extract nearly a quart of marrow from the woman in a two-hour procedure similar to drawing blood.
After the liquid was filtered and packaged for travel, Steward and the container were rushed by helicopter to Geneva for a commercial jet flight to Seattle via London. Bone marrow can lose its effectiveness after 24 hours.
The French woman, who wanted anonymity, was located in a search of bone marrow registries in the United States, France and seven other countries. Her marrow was found to be a near perfect match.
Grishchenko was honored as a Soviet hero for making five flights over Chernobyl in the four days following an explosion and fire at the reactor on April 26, 1986.
He flew repeatedly through the hot, intensely radioactive gases spewing from the plant to survey the damage and to dump tons of sand and wet concrete onto the wreckage.
According to official figures, 31 people were killed. Unofficial reports said at least 250 died.
by CNB