Successful treatment of refractory immune hemolysis following unrelated cord blood transplant with Campath-1H

Abstract

Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia is a well-recognized complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We report on a 6-year-old boy with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy who developed severe delayed alloimmune hemolytic anemia associated with immune-mediated neutropenia and thrombocytopenia following major ABO incompatible unrelated cord blood transplantation. The patient's cytopenias were refractory to treatment with corticosteroids, cyclosporine, intravenous immune globulin, rituximab, and pentostatin. After one course of Campath-1H his hematologic parameters normalized, suggesting that the compound may be an effective therapy for complex immunohematologic disorders complicating hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The case also emphasizes the importance of T-cells in transplant associated immune cytopenias.