transplant

500 bone marrow transplants performed in Catalonia each year

June 3, 2016 04:02 PM | Marc Ferragut / Amber van Leeuwen

The first bone marrow transplant in Spain was performed in Barcelona, by doctors from Sant Pau Hospital. It was on the 22nd of May 1976 and the patient was a 13-year-old girl who suffered from acute leukaemia. Since then, 2,939 operations of this type have been carried out in Catalonia. Director of the Haematology Service at Sant Pau, Jordi Sierra, stated that 500 bone marrow transplants take place in Catalonia each year and that Sant Pau alone performed 130 operations of this kind in 2015, 23 of them on children. Bone marrow transplant survival rate varies from 70% in a young patient who is in an early stage of the disease and receives a donation from a relative, to 30% in the case of a patient over 60 years old and in an advanced stage who has a transplant from an unrelated donor, explained Sierra. However, thanks to new therapies, transplants might not be necessary for cancerous diseases in the future.

Éric Abidal joins Monaco after 6 years playing for FC Barcelona

July 8, 2013 09:14 PM | CNA

The French defender has signed a season long deal, with the option of a further year. Abidal returns to the football club where he played from 2000-2002 before signing for Lyon. Abidal played for Barça between 2007 and 2013. The Catalan club and the player announced in late May he will not continue playing with FC Barcelona in the next season. Abidal’s touching farewell took place in early June at the Camp Nou, after he had played the last 15 minutes of the FC Barcelona vs Malaga game.

Éric Abidal declared fit to play after last year’s liver transplant

February 21, 2013 07:19 PM | CNA

FC Barcelona player Éric Abidal is once again available for Barça’s first team selection after recovering from a liver transplant last April. The Frenchman received the wonderful news after Thursday’s training session. In fact, since the 19th December, Abidal has been training with the rest of Barça players. In early October, he went with FC Barcelona physio Emili Ricart to spend several days in the Catalan mountains at the Vall d’Aran County, in the heart of the Pyrenees, to follow a specific training programme.