The doctors of the haematology department of the hospital performed an operation on one of their patients hailing it as the first-of-its-kind major operation involving successful reinfusion of blood stem cells on a patient suffering from a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.

Bela Samanta, 37, a resident of Burdwan who had been suffering from leukaemia for the past one year, was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition on December 16. After tests and some preliminary treatment, the doctors claimed she had to go in for an operation in order to lead a stable life for at least five to seven years.

“We operated on Samanta and it was a success. She is doing well at present and we hope to discharge her in a couple of days. Such an operation has taken place in a government hospital for the first time in the North-eastern region. We hope many more patients from across the country will come to us,” said Moloy Ghosh, head of the department of haematology.

According to the doctors, a clinical investigation had earlier revealed that the condition of the patient might relapse after a couple of months even after being administered chemotherapy and medicine. The doctors decided to collect stem cells from her body and reinfuse the cells by undergoing ‘autologus peripheral blood stem cell transplantation’.