Risk factors for thrombotic microangiopathy in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell recipients receiving GVHD prophylaxis with tacrolimus plus MTX or sirolimus

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2014 May;49(5):684-90. doi: 10.1038/bmt.2014.17. Epub 2014 Feb 24.

Abstract

Transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is a feared complication of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) owing to its high mortality rate. The use of calcineurin inhibitors or sirolimus (SIR) for GVHD prophylaxis has been suggested as a potential risk factor. However, the impact of tacrolimus (TAC) and SIR combinations on the increased risk of TA-TMA is currently not well defined. We retrospectively analyzed the incidence of TA-TMA in 102 allogeneic HSCT recipients who consecutively received TAC plus SIR (TAC/SIR) (n=68) or plus MTX (TAC/MTX)±ATG (n=34) for GVHD prophylaxis. No significant differences were observed in the incidence of TA-TMA between patients receiving TAC/SIR vs TAC/MTX±ATG (7.4% vs 8.8%, P=0.8). Only grade III-IV acute GVHD, previous HSCT and serum levels of TAC >25 ng/mL were associated with a greater risk of TA-TMA. Patients developing TA-TMA have significantly poorer survival (P<0.001); however, TA-TMA ceased to be an independent prognostic factor when it was included in a multivariate model. In conclusion, the combination of TAC/SIR does not appear to pose a higher risk of TA-TMA. By contrast, we identified three different risk groups for developing TA-TMA.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Graft vs Host Disease / drug therapy
  • Graft vs Host Disease / epidemiology
  • Graft vs Host Disease / prevention & control*
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / adverse effects*
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / administration & dosage
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / blood
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Methotrexate / administration & dosage*
  • Methotrexate / blood
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Sirolimus / administration & dosage*
  • Sirolimus / blood
  • Tacrolimus / administration & dosage*
  • Tacrolimus / blood
  • Thrombotic Microangiopathies / epidemiology
  • Thrombotic Microangiopathies / etiology*
  • Transplantation, Homologous
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Sirolimus
  • Tacrolimus
  • Methotrexate