marrow (redirected from Marrow (TCM))

marrow /mar·row/ (mar´o) bone marrow; the soft organic material filling the cavities of bones, made up of a fiber-rich meshwork of connective tissue, the meshes being filled with marrow cells, which consist variously of fat cells, large nucleated cells or myelocytes, and megakaryocytes. Yellow bone m. is that in which fat cells predominate; red bone m. is the site of production of erythrocytes and granular leukocytes and occurs in developing bone, as of the ribs and vertebrae.

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spinal marrow  the spinal cord.

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mar·row (mr)

n.

1. Bone marrow.

2. The spinal cord.

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marrow.

See bone marrow.

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marrow

see bone marrow.

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Patient discussion about Marrow (TCM).

Q. What is Leukemia? My brother's best friend has been diagnosed with Leukemia. What is it? Is it dangerous? Can you recover from it?

A. Leukemia is the general name for four different types of blood cancers. In people with leukemia, the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells. The abnormal cells are leukemia cells. At first, leukemia cells function almost normally. In time, they may crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This makes it hard for blood to do its work. After diagnosis, many people with leukemia do survive and live many good, quality years. The relative five-year survival rate has more than tripled in the past 47 years for patients with leukemia. In 1960-63, when compared to a person without leukemia, a patient had a 14 percent chance of living five years. By 1975-77, the five year relative survival rate had jumped to 35 percent, and in 1996-2003 the overall relative survival rate was nearly 50 percent.

Q. What is a bone marrow transplant? I wanted to enter myself as a potential bone marrow donor and wanted to know first of all what bone marrow is? What does a bone marrow transplant mean and how is it done?

A. Bone marrow is a soft, fatty tissue inside the bones. This is where blood cells are produced, and where they develop. Transplanted bone marrow will restore production of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Donated bone marrow must match the patient's tissue type. It can be taken from the patient, a living relative (usually a brother or a sister), or from an unrelated donor. Donors are matched through special blood tests called HLA tissue typing. Bone marrow is taken from the donor in the operating room while the donor is unconscious and pain-free (under general anesthesia). Some of the donor's bone marrow is removed from the top of the hip bone. The bone marrow is filtered, treated, and transplanted immediately or frozen and stored for later use. Transplant marrow is transfused into the patient through a vein (IV) and is naturally carried into the bone cavities where it grows to replace the old bone marrow.