Enjeux psychiques du don de moelle osseuse

[Psychological issues of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in adults]

A bone marrow transplant is often the only hope for a cure for some patients with blood disease. Beyond its medical aspects, it underlies psychological issues for both the recipient and the donor. The transplant brings together the issues of donation, debt, the family romance and the incorporation of a "foreign body", evoking the classic notion of chimera.

[Psychic issues and problems in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in pediatric]

In pediatric oncohematology, a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSC) may be offered depending on the pathology and the therapeutic objective. The transplant generates many repercussions, in particular related to the donation and the debt, on the physical and psychological identity of the donor and the recipient, with family changes. The multidisciplinary support of the families is essential so that everyone may find his right place.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with sickle cell anemia: The parents' experience

Genoidentical HSCT is currently the only curative treatment for SCA, preventing further vascular complications in high-risk children. Studies on the psychological implications of HSCT for recipient, sibling donor, and the rest of the family have been limited in SCA. This study enrolled ten families and used semi-structured interviews to explore the parents' experience at three time points: first before transplantation, then 3 months later, and 1 year later. Three themes emerged from the results: (a) the presence of anxiety, experienced throughout the process, and alleviated by coping strategies (positive thinking, family support, praying); (b) the ability to remain parents to recipient and other family members, despite apprehension and feelings of helplessness, reinforced by the mobilization of important resources at the individual/family levels; (c) the ability to acknowledge the opportunity for their child to be cured of the disease, despite feelings of guilt toward families without a donor, or their own families back home. Overall, the parental experience with HSCT is complex, involving intra-psychic, familial, cultural, religious, and existential factors. Thus, it is important for medical teams to be cognizant of these issues in order to provide the best support to families during the HSCT process.