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| Great Ormond Street stem cell freezing 'may have led to death' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A problem freezing stem cells may have contributed to the death of a 12-year-old girl, a coroner has ruled. | |
| Cancer patient Sophie Ryan Palmer died in 2013 after the frozen cells were used in a bone marrow transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital. | |
| Three other children also died, but a more successful grafting of the cells would not have prevented their deaths, the coroner said. | Three other children also died, but a more successful grafting of the cells would not have prevented their deaths, the coroner said. |
| Eight children in total had problems after the treatment, the inquest heard. | Eight children in total had problems after the treatment, the inquest heard. |
| Great Ormond Street Hospital said tests carried out before the transplants had found no problems. | Great Ormond Street Hospital said tests carried out before the transplants had found no problems. |
| What are stem cells? | |
| Stem cells are very immature blood cells which are made by the body's bone marrow and can grow into any of our normal blood cells. | |
| Doctors can take a sample of these cells and freeze them so they can be used as a treatment at a later date. | |
| Children with leukaemia may have this treatment after they have had chemotherapy - chemotherapy kills off healthy bone marrow cells as well as cancerous ones. | |
| Stem cell transplants are similar to bone marrow transplants, replenishing the cells that have been lost. | |
| The way that stem cells are frozen, stored and then defrosted for use is important because there is a chance that the cells can be damaged in the process. | |
| Source: BBC Health |