[Harvesting bone marrow from the posterior superior iliac crest for transplantation]

The purpose of bone marrow cells harvesting is to isolate haemopoietic stem cell for the transplantation, by means of multiple punctures from the posterior iliac crest under general anaesthesia. This method is the alternative procedure for collecting circulating peripheral blood progenitor cells performed with continuous-flow cell separators. The aim of the both procedures is the collection of progenitor cells for transplantation in the number enabling reconstitution of marrow function after myeloablative therapy. The bone marrow cell harvesting is a safe measure: the infrequent complication related to general anaesthesia may occur and the simultaneous or subsequent blood transfusion is usually required.