Blood Transfusion Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Blood Transfusion, including details on blood donation, blood types, leukemia.

Acute polymyositis after donor lymphocyte infusion.

Lin PC, Hsiao LT, Chen PM

Department of Medical Oncology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.

Polymyositis usually occurred along with other manifestations of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) had been reported. However, polymyositis with a sole manifestation of acute GVHD following donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is rare. We reported a 45-yr-old man of acute lymphoid leukemia post-allogeneic HSCT 6 months developed acute polymyositis after DLI. He did not develop any symptoms, signs of acute or chronic GVHD following allogeneic HSCT, despite withdraw of immuosuppresive agents, cyclosporin A (CsA). As the DNA-STR of bone marrow analysis showed mixed chimerism, he received the DLI for remission on May 16, 2002. Acute polymyositis developed following DLI 22 d later. The clinical presentation of polymyositis is compatible with a manifestation of acute GVHD following DLI. It also responds to the treatment of steroid and CsA.

Published 18 January 2005 in Eur J Haematol, 74(2): 166-8.
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