OSAKA -- Two Red Cross blood banks in western Japan helped save the life of a woman in China by answering an international appeal for a rare blood type, blood bank officials said Saturday.
The appeal came from a hospital in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, where a woman in her 60s who suffers from bone marrow cancer, which destroys blood-forming cells, was found to have an extremely rare type of blood, according to the officials.
The patient was initially given a blood transfusion to treat serious anemia. Her red cell count dropped sharply after the transfusion, leaving her in critical condition and prompting doctors to analyze her blood.
They discovered that her blood has an extremely rare type of red cell -- found only in one person in 2,000 -- and that there were no stocks of this type in China. The hospital sent out a request for the blood in May by fax and e-mail.
The Red Cross blood centers in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures both had frozen stocks of the blood type and in June they sent around 1.2 liters by air to the hospital.
The blood banks sent another 2 liters of the blood in August and provided an additional 400 cc in September after asking donors to provide blood.
The woman's condition has improved significantly and she is able to undergo chemotherapy again, according to the officials. She said she would like to visit Japan to express her gratitude once she is released from the hospital, the officials said.