Gastrointestinal tract and liver graft-versus-host disease in pediatric patients with hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation at a tertiary care center in Mexico

Abstract

Introduction and aims: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a common multisystemic complication of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. The most frequent presentations of graft-versus-host disease involve the skin, the gastrointestinal tract, and the liver. The aim of the present study was to know the frequency of gastrointestinal tract and liver GVHD and the characteristics of disease presentation in pediatric patients that underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) at a tertiary care hospital center in Mexico City.

Material and methods: A retrospective study was carried out, utilizing the case records of patients that underwent HSCT in 2015, to determine the frequency of GVHD in pediatric patients at a Mexican tertiary care hospital center.

Results: In 2015, 16 HSCT were performed, 11 of which were carried out in males (68%). Only 3 patients developed graft-versus-host disease (18.7%). One patient presented with skin and liver GVHD and 2 patients presented with gastrointestinal tract and liver GVHD, which was the most frequent type.

Conclusions: HSCT is still an uncommon procedure in Mexico and there is a lower frequency of gastrointestinal tract and liver GVHD than that reported in other studies. Most certainly, there will be an increase in this type of patient and risk factors in the Mexican population must still be determined to help predict the onset of GVHD.

Keywords: Enfermedad injerto contra huésped; Graft-versus-host disease; Hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation; Pacientes pediátricos; Pediatric patients; Trasplante de células progenitoras hematopoyéticas.