Context: Renal graft recipients who develop post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) that complicate bone marrow (BM).
Aims: To investigate features, predictors and prognosis of BM involvement by PTLD in renal transplant patients.
Settings and design: A comprehensive search for the available data though PubMed and Google Scholar for reports of PTLD localization in BM in renal allograft recipients.
Materials and methods: Data of 168 PTLD cases in renal transplant context who have developed bone marrow PTLD gathered from 18 studies and were pooled and analyzed.
Statistical analysis used: Chi-square test, Student's t test and fissure's exact test were employed.
Results: Chi-square test showed that renal recipients with BM PTLD were significantly more likely to represent multi-organ disease (P<0.001), and disseminated PTLD (P<0.001). BM PTLD was also more frequently seen among pediatric renal recipients who had developed PTLD (P=0.016). PTLD, in BM PTLD renal recipients more significantly complicated liver (P=0.008), but less commonly affected skin (P=0.045). BM PTLD lesions were relatively more likely to be of monomorph phenomenon (P=0.06).
Conclusions: Renal recipients with BM PTLD represent worse outcome and more unfavorable histopathological phenomenon than in other organ involvements. Moreover, a concomitant PTLD involvement site in liver was found which necessitates full hepatic evaluation for a potential complication by the disease in renal recipients whose BM is involved.