Umbilical Blood Transfusion Done

Without fanfare, doctors at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood on Thursday gave 8-month-old Blayke LaRue 2 ounces of blood that could save the Oxnard baby’s life--with a transfusion from an umbilical cord.

The simple medical procedure--a first for UCLA and relatively new worldwide--is similar to a bone marrow transplant, in which donor blood rich with stem cells is given to the patient. But in the case of Blayke’s transplant, the stem cells, which help develop the body’s immune system, come from placental blood extracted from an umbilical cord.

The breakthrough technique could save Blayke’s life if his body accepts the new blood cells.

The baby has an extremely rare disease called XLP, or X-linked lymphoproliferative disease, which has left him with a barely functioning immune system.

His brother Garrett, 3, also has the disease. A third brother, Layne, died last summer from it before the boys’ parents, Scott and Theresa LaRue, realized their children had the disease. Drives are underway to find a donor for Garrett. A potential match has been identified in Finland, but more tests are being run to see if the match is perfect.

UCLA spokeswoman Simi Singer said the hospital was mobbed by camera crews Thursday, but that the actual process--no more complicated-looking than a blood transfusion--was uneventful.

Now doctors and the baby’s parents will wait to see how Blayke reacts.

Doctors aren’t sure why, but they think using umbilical cord blood diminishes chances of rejection.

“We won’t know anything at all for two weeks,” Singer said.

“And it will probably be more like four weeks.”

The LaRues found the match through the Red Cross Bone Marrow Registry Program, which helps find bone marrow donors worldwide. The umbilical cord blood came from the New York Blood Center’s Placental Blood Program, the only organization in the country obtaining and storing placental blood for transplants.