Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E D Thomas.
The current status of bone marrow transplantation is reviewed. The diseases that are treatable with marrow transplantation, the basic transplant procedure, and the potential complications of marrow transplantation are discussed in detail. The future application of marrow transplantation to additional disease processes is considered.
The cases of 13 allogeneic marrow transplant recipients who had undergone laparotomy for manifestations of severe enteritis were reviewed to determine the causes of the severe intestinal disease and to assess the relation between clinical, histologic, and microbiologic findings. Laparotomies were performed a median of 63 days (range, 11 to 273 days) after transplantation for suspected peritonitis, intestinal obstruction, or bleeding. Intestinal tissue was available from small bowel resections in nine patients, intraoperative biopsies in one, and from autopsies in three patients who died shortly after laparotomy. Widespread small bowel ulceration was present in all 13 cases. Four causes of ulceration were identified: chemoradiation toxicity (n = 2), acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (n = 5), opportunistic infections superimposed on either GVHD or toxicity from chemotherapy (n = 4), and Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative disorder (n = 2). Intestinal infections, unrecognized before laparotomy, were due to cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), adenovirus, and Torulopsis glabrata. CMV- and HSV-infected cells, often lacking diagnostic inclusions, were identified in the intestine by in situ hybridization with biotinylated DNA probes. Eleven patients died in the perioperative period, and two died 452 and 558 days after surgery of complications of chronic GVHD. Poor outcomes were related to extensive intestinal involvement, which was commonly underestimated before surgery, failure to diagnose intestinal infections early, poor marrow function, impaired immunity, and refractoriness of severe GVHD.
One hundred twelve patients with hematologic malignancies underwent marrow transplantation from HLA-matched sibling donors and were randomized to receive either prophylactic granulocyte transfusions (PG, 67 patients) or prophylactic systemic antibiotics (PSA, 45 patients) as prophylaxis against nosocomial infections. Patients were treated in conventional hospital rooms and studied until day 100 post-transplant. For the entire study period, 26 patients (39%) in the PG group developed septicemia compared to 15 patients (33%) in the PSA group. Twenty-eight patients (42%) in the PG group developed local major infections compared to 19 patients (42%) in the PSA group. Ten patients (15%) in the PG group developed viral interstitial pneumonitis compared to 6 patients (13%) in the PSA group. None of these differences were statistically significant. There was no difference in the incidence of bacterial or fungal infections or viral interstitial pneumonitis between the two groups during the granulocytopenic or post-engraftment period. There was no difference in the incidence and severity of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Inability to carry out the prophylaxis was frequent in the PG group, with complications necessitating discontinuance of transfusion in 24% of the recipients and 13% of the donors. The use of PG as an infection prophylaxis modality in marrow transplantation is not supported by this study, as it is difficult to carry out and because PG did not show any advantage over the use of PSA in preventing nosocomial infections.
The records of 545 patients were reviewed for risk factors associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after marrow transplant. CMV infection occurred among 36% of seronegative patients and 69% of seropositive patients. Among seronegative patients, significant risk factors for CMV infection included positive serology of the marrow donor (relative rate, 2.3) and the use of granulocyte transfusions from seropositive donors (relative rate, 2.5). Among both seronegative and seropositive patients, the occurrence of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) significantly increased the risk of CMV infection (average relative rate, 1.8) and of subsequent CMV pneumonia (average relative rate, 2.6). CMV excretion and viremia were each associated with subsequent pneumonia, but the positive predictive values were low. One-third of long-term survivors excreted CMV at greater than 250 days after transplantation. The only risk factor for late excretion was CMV infection that occurred in the first 150 days after transplantation. In contrast to the effect of acute GVHD on CMV infection, CMV infection did not increase the risk of either acute or chronic GVHD.
We compared the diagnostic information obtained by bronchoscopy and needle aspiration of the lung with information obtained concurrently by open-lung biopsy in 15 marrow transplant recipients. Bronchoscopy included a wash, brush, and bronchoalveolar lavage. Laboratory evaluation included standard histological and cytological methods, specific immunofluorescence with monoclonal antibodies, and DNA hybridization to detect cytomegalovirus (CMV). Bronchoscopy permitted diagnosis of five of six patients with CMV pneumonia, whereas needle aspiration alone permitted diagnosis of only one of six. Bronchoalveolar lavage alone provided the diagnosis in four of six patients. Bronchoscopy also identified the bacterial component of a combined infection and identified one case of primary lung hemorrhage. Immunofluorescent staining and hybridization studies each diagnosed one case of CMV pneumonia not identified by standard techniques. The diagnostic sensitivity of the bronchoscopy was 89%, as compared with 17% for needle aspiration, and there were no complications.
Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is typically associated with the inability of T lymphocytes to proliferate and produce lymphokines in response to Candida antigen. A 7-year-old girl with CMC developed severe aplastic anemia and, after conditioning with cyclophosphamide, 200 mg/kg, underwent bone marrow transplantation from her HLA-identical sister. Engraftment was prompt and complete. The patient is surviving more than 3 years after transplantation with normal donor-derived hemopoiesis and immune function. Manifestations of CMC have resolved completely and she has not received antifungal therapy for more than 2 years.
We studied the effectiveness of plasma exchange for reversing antiplatelet alloimmunization in 18 patients undergoing marrow transplantation. Patients received one-to-three daily exchanges. Most exchanges occurred during the pretransplant conditioning phase. Overall, eleven of 18 patients had a beneficial response to plasma exchange, defined as an improvement in post-platelet-transfusion increments. More patients responded who had received two or more exchanges. Patients who had lymphocytotoxic antibodies pretransplant were more likely to benefit from the exchange. Our results show that plasma exchange may improve the posttransfusion platelet increments in alloimmunized patients undergoing marrow transplant.
Based on studies in multiply transfused dogs showing that cyclosporine (CsA) pregrafting reduced the incidence of rejection, we treated 11 multiply transfused patients with severe aplastic anemia with CsA, 12.5-20 mg/kg/day i.m. on days -6 to -1, and cyclophosphamide, 50 mg/kg/day i.v. on days -5 to -2, followed on day 0 by a marrow graft from an HLA-identical sibling donor. Patients were not given additional infusions of buffy coat cells from their marrow donors. As postgrafting prophylaxis for graft-versus-host disease 10 patients were given CsA, 12.5 mg/kg/day orally, and one patient was given a standard regimen of intermittent methotrexate. Among 10 evaluable patients, 2 rejected their marrow grafts. Eight patients had sustained engraftment. Two of these developed severe veno-occlusive disease of the liver, a complication previously observed only in patients conditioned with total-body irradiation but not in more than 200 patients with aplastic anemia conditioned with cyclophosphamide without the addition of CsA. These data indicate that conditioning of patients with cyclophosphamide and concurrent CsA does not uniformly prevent graft rejection and can result in severe hepatic toxicity.
The incidence of interstitial pneumonitis (IP) was reviewed in 70 consecutive patients who received autologous marrow transplants for hematologic malignancies. All patients were treated with total-body irradiation (TBI), with or without other chemotherapeutic agents. Seven patients (10%) developed IP, 3 were due to cytomegalovirus, 1 due to Pneumomcystis carinii, and 3 of unknown cause (idiopathic). Risk factors for developing IP were increasing age and a prior history of irradiation to the chest. The use of methotrexate posttransplant did not increase the incidence of IP.
We prospectively studied patients with enigmatic nausea and vomiting after allogeneic marrow transplantation to define the causes of this syndrome. Fifty consecutive episodes of persistent vomiting were investigated using physical examination and laboratory tests, endoscopic biopsies and brushings, and clinical follow-up for four weeks. Potential causes of vomiting were identified in 39 of the 50 cases (78%). Fifteen cases had gastrointestinal infections (mainly herpesviruses), 13 had unsuspected acute intestinal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), 8 had intestinal infection plus acute GVHD, and 3 had other causes (subdural hematomas, bacteremia, and encephalitis). In the remaining 11 cases, no cause of vomiting was found. Endoscopy was necessary for diagnosis in 36 cases and required a combination of methods: routine histology, cytology, viral culture, and immunohistology using monoclonal antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus type 1. Patients with unexplained vomiting or intestinal GVHD had significant improvement of nausea and vomiting over the four-week observation period, but those with CMV did not (P = .01). We conclude that most allogeneic marrow transplant patients with enigmatic nausea and vomiting have gastrointestinal herpesvirus infections, acute GVHD, or both. Untreated CMV infections and persistent GVHD are associated with protracted vomiting in these patients.
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An 11.5-year-old girl developed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia 7 months after bone marrow transplantation for severe aplastic anaemia. Before transplantation there were neither morphologic nor cytogenetic abnormalities to suggest preleukaemia. The conditioning regimen consisted only of cyclophosphamide. At the time of development of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, chromosome analysis showed the blasts to be of host origin with clonal abnormalities including monosomy 7. Such a preleukaemic syndrome presenting as severe aplastic anaemia is a very rare event (the case reported here is the only one of 436 patients in Seattle) and cannot be reliably excluded before transplantation.
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One hundred ninety-eight patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia received marrow transplants after intensive chemotherapy and total body irradiation. Multivariate analysis showed disease status at time of transplantation to be the most powerful predictor of survival. The probability of long-term survival for allogeneic graft recipients was 49% for 67 patients in the first chronic phase, 58% for 12 in the second chronic phase, 15% for 46 in the accelerated phase, and 14% for 42 in the blastic phase. The major cause of death was interstitial pneumonia for patients in the chronic phase, and relapse for those in the blastic or accelerated phases. Factors favoring survival were early transplantation, age less than 30 years, and absence of severe graft-versus-host disease. Splenectomy or spleen size did not influence survival. For recipients of syngeneic grafts survival probability was 87% for 16 patients in the chronic phase, 27% for 7 in the accelerated phase, and 12% for 8 in the blastic phase. Of the 198 patients, 71 are alive without Philadelphia chromosomes 1 to 9 years after receiving their graft. All but 4 long-term disease-free survivors have Karnofsky performance scores of 80% or better.
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We investigated the influence of race as a risk factor for the outcome of HLA-identical marrow transplantation. The actuarial survival at 2 years after grafting of Blacks, Hispanics and Asians was compared with that of Caucasians transplanted between 1971 and 1985 for aplastic anaemia, acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Among patients with aplastic anaemia, there was no difference with regard to engraftment or actuarial survival among different racial groups. Among patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia, Blacks had a lower survival (P = 0.03) than other groups, although there was no obvious single factor accounting for this difference. In patients with acute lymphocytic leukaemia, survival was comparable among the different races. Acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease appeared to occur with similar frequencies in all groups, except for a slightly higher incidence among Blacks with acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia. Larger numbers of patients need to be examined before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Seventy-five patients with acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANL) in first remission were treated with cyclophosphamide, 60 mg/kg on each of two consecutive days followed by total body irradiation (TBI) at an exposure rate of 4-6 cGy/min from two opposing 60Co sources. The first 22 patients were given 9.2 Gy of TBI as a single dose. Subsequently 53 patients were randomized to receive either 10 Gy single dose TBI (n = 27) or 6 x 2 Gy fractionated TBI (n = 26). All patients received marrow transplants from HLA-identical siblings and all had sustained engraftment. Patients given 10 Gy of TBI had more early toxicity, especially veno-occlusive disease of the liver, than patients given 9.2 or 6 x 2 Gy of TBI. Idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis appeared to be more frequent in patients given 9.2 or 10 Gy single-dose TBI than in patients given 6 x 2 Gy fractionated TBI. Patients have now been followed from 5 to 9 years. Survival (+/- 95% confidence limits) at 5 years is 54 +/- 31% among patients given 9.2 Gy single dose TBI, 33 +/- 31% among patients given 10 Gy single dose TBI, and 54 +/- 26% among patients given 6 x 2 Gy fractionated TBI (P = 0.04). These results indicate that about half the patients with ANL transplanted while in first chemotherapy-induced remission can be expected to become long-term survivors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Dogs given 9.2 Gy of total body irradiation (TBI) followed by hematopoietic grafts from DLA-nonidentical unrelated or littermate donors and no postgrafting immunosuppression all develop acute graft-versus host disease (GVHD) and die within 3 weeks of grafting. Over a period of 10 years, the present study evaluated various immunosuppressive drugs either alone or in combination and compared their effectiveness to that of methotrexate (MTX) in preventing acute GVHD and prolonging survival. Among the single agents tested, 6-mercaptopurine and azathioprine resulted in a slight but significant prolongation of survival compared to controls, but they were less effective than MTX. Procarbazine and cytosine arabinoside were ineffective. Drugs tested in combination included MTX, cyclophosphamide, 6-mercaptopurine, azathioprine, cyclosporin, procarbazine, prednisone and antithymocyte globulin. Drug combinations, while effective in delaying the onset of GVHD, were associated with hematopoietic and other toxicities, which made their use impractical. Administration of MTX twice weekly proved to be no better than once weekly administration. Prednisone administered for the first 4 days after grafting in addition to MTX resulted in a modest improvement in survival. High-dose MTX (200 mg/kg) followed by leukovorin rescue resulted in severe early toxicity, both gastrointestinal and hematopoietic; however, some of those dogs which survived the early postgrafting period became stable long-term survivors. Most single agents tested in the present study proved to be either ineffective or were inferior to MTX in their ability to prevent GVHD. None of the drug combinations tested was as effective as the one involving MTX/cyclosporin reported previously.