Demodicidosis simulating acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in one patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

One important differential diagnosis of facial erythema in a patient receiving an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) is acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Demodex folliculorum has been rarely implicated in the development of facial rashes in immunosuppressed patients, including BMT recipients. We report the case of a patient, suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who after bone marrow transplantation developed a facial rash due to D. folliculorum mimicking GVHD. Differential diagnosis of facial rashes and demodicidosis after BMT is reviewed.