Blood donations mode: Assessment of the Lebanese model.

Voluntary non-remunerated donations remain the cornerstone for a safe and sustainable blood supply. According to the World Health Organization and other international scientific committees, all nations must switch their system of blood collection to voluntary non-remunerated donation. Several other types of blood donations still exist nowadays that will be discussed. Lebanon, similarly to other developing countries, is struggling to achieve 100% voluntary non-remunerated donations for the many existing social, demographic, cultural and economic problems. Replacement donations remain the predominant type, which creates huge burden on both hospital blood banks and patient families. Despite the limited resources, some improvements have been made recently in this field and Lebanon seems to be on the road of achieving 100% voluntary non-remunerated blood donation as requested by the World Health Organization. The Lebanese experience is worth sharing so that neighbouring countries facing similar problems could benefit from it.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Lebanon: first comprehensive report.

Hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) has become a curative therapeutic strategy for several malignant and nonmalignant diseases. We report the comprehensive results of the first 10 years of experience in HSCT from the two major BMT units in Lebanon: Makassed University Hospital and the American University of Beirut Medical Center. The median and the 5-year overall survival (OS) were 97 months and 58%, respectively, for the 84 patients who received allogeneic HSCT, and 60 months and 50%, respectively, for the 228 patients who received autologous BMT. The results for myeloablative allogeneic transplantation were as follows: AML (n=28, 5-year OS 58%, 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) 48%), CML (n=9, 5-year OS 66%, 5-year DFS 52%), ALL (n=13, 2-year OS 10%, 2-year DFS 10%), thalassemia (n=10, 5-year transfusion-free survival 67%). The results for autologous HSCT were as follows: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in relapse (n=37, 5-year OS 68%, 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) 65%), Hodgkin's lymphoma (n=55, 5-year OS 55%, 5-year PFS 36%), and first-line multiple myeloma (n=71, 5-year OS 53%, 5-year PFS 24%). For allogeneic transplanted patients, the cumulative TRM was 23% and the incidence of acute GVHD was 23%. For autografted patients, TRM was 2.6%. These results indicate that despite the relatively low socioeconomic status of the Lebanese population, both allogeneic and autologous HSCT are feasible with outcomes similar to developed countries.