A donor's a person, no matter how small

摘要

The work is long overdue. In the midst of our focus on improving outcomes of their sicker siblings, we have too-long neglected what should be an ongoing task of ensuring that we (1) know in detail current common and rare risks of these procedures and (2) work to minimize or eliminate side-effects in these healthy children as they go through the BM or peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection process. This study confirms our long-held belief that BM and PBSC collection from minor donors is generally safe, resulting in temporary discomfort in a portion of donors (only 1 severe adverse event [nonlife-threatening] was reported in 453 donations). This distinguishes BM and PBSC donation from riskier sibling solid organ donation, counter to a recent American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement that calls for BM/PBSC and solid organ donors to be approached in a similar fashion.