[Graft-versus-host reaction following granulocyte transfusion from a normal donor (author's transl)]

Graft versus host disease following transfusion of normal blood products to patients with malignancies

A patient undergoing treatment with cytotoxic chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease developed graft versus host disease (GVHD) following a transfusion of packed red cells. This is the 28th reported patient with a malignancy who did not have a bone marrow transplant and developed GVHD after transfusion of normal blood or blood products. All patients had received cytotoxic chemotherapy prior to acquiring GVHD. The underlying malignancies included lymphoma, acute leukemia, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and glioblastoma. Twenty-three of the 28 patients died of GVHD. The incidence of transfusion-related GVHD in this patient population is low but the illness is often fatal as treatment is largely ineffective. Transfusion-related GVHD can be prevented by irradiating all blood products with 1500 rad prior to administration.

Human posttransfusion graft-versus-host disease

Graft-versus-host disease (GVDH) follows blood product transfusions in patients with deficient cell-mediated immunity. The rate of mortality in this adverse effect of blood transfusions is between 90 and 100%. The historical; clinical and pathologic; and mechanism of acute and chronic GVHD are presented. The patients at risk, the clinical and pathologic features of posttransfusion GVDH have been presented in hopes that, with increased awareness of this usually fatal complication, clinicians and transfusion therapists may more intelligently advise and select patients who may need lymphocyte-poor or irradiated blood products and may recognize the syndrome earlier.

Graft-versus-host reaction in 3 adult leukaemia patients after transfusion of blood cell products

We describe 3 cases of acute graft-versus-host (GVH) disease in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia following transfusions taken from non-HLA-identical healthy donors. The leucocyte transfusions were given because of severe bone marrow aplasia and granulocytopenia following leukaemia induction treatment. The first patient had an acute GVH reaction with an erythrodermia-like skin reaction all over and associated with severe abdominal cramping, enlarged liver and pathological liver function tests. The second patient had a relatively mild skin reaction and enlarged liver. Both died of severe pulmonary infection. The third patient also had a mild skin reaction and enlarged liver. He died of pulmonary embolism. The diagnosis of GVH of the latter 2 cases was made on skin biopsy. The autopsy samples revealed in all cases a heavy lymphocytic infiltration of the kidneys and liver portal area. Until more precise guidelines can be established, irradiation of blood cell products given to patients with neutropenia due to leukaemia induction treatment should be considered.

Graft-versus-host reaction following blood product transfusion

The observation of graft-versus-host (GVH) reaction after platelet transfusion in a patient with Hodgkin's disease led us to analyze 38 reported cases in the literature, to outline prognostic factors and to characterize patients at risk. Overall mortality was 68 percent. It was higher among children (76 percent) than among adults (62 percent), and among patients with Hodgkin's disease and immune deficiency syndromes (88 percent) than among those with leukemias (23 percent, p less than 0.005). Following blood transfusions from normal donors, mortality was higher (88 percent) than after transfusions from donors with chronic myelocytic leukemia (25 percent, p less than 0.05). Minimal lymphocyte doses necessary to cause GVH reaction are in excess of 10(7)/kg. Adults seem more resistant to homografts than do children, and the host's cellular immune status is of major prognostic importance. Lymphocytes from donors with chronic myelocytic leukemia may be deficient, and after a threshold dose, the number of lymphocytes transfused does not correlate with clinical outcome. Effective prophylactic measures do exist for this complication but satisfactory therapy does not.

A controlled trial of prophylactic granulocyte transfusions during initial induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia

To evaluate the role of prophylactic granulocyte transfusions during remission-induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) we randomized 102 infected patients either to receive daily granulocyte transfusions when blood granulocytes fell below 0.5 x 10(9) per liter (54 patients) or not to receive them (48). Although the percentage of patients acquiring any infection was similar in the transfusion and control groups (46 and 42 per cent, respectively), granulocyte transfusions decreased the proportion of patients with bacterial septicemia (9 per cent of those with transfusions vs. 27 per cent of the controls; P = 0.01). Granulocyte transfusions did not reduce the incidence of other infections or improve bone-marrow recovery, remission rate and duration, or survival. Seventy-two per cent of the patients given transfusions had transfusion reactions. Pulmonary infiltrates were more common in the transfusion group than in the control group (57 per cent vs. 27 per cent; P = 0.002). Thirty-five per cent of the patients with pulmonary filtrates died, as compared with 5 per cent of those without filtrates. We conclude that prophylactic granulocyte transfusions should not be used during remission-induction chemotherapy in AML because the risks outweigh the benefits.

Graft-versus-host disease in consecutive patients with acute myeloid leukaemia treated with blood cells from normal donors

Two consecutive patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) developed severe probable graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following transfusion of blood products from normal donors. In one patient the AML had arisen de novo, while in the other it occurred four years after the patient developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and was treated with radiotherapy and combination cytotoxic chemotherapy. Both patients received anti-leukaemic treatment with doxorubicin and cytosine arabinoside and intensive haematological supportive care with transfusions of red cell, white cell and platelet concentrates obtained from normal donors. Clinically the GVHD in each patient was manifest by a severe erythematous rash, intractable diarrhoea and abnormalities in the liver function tests. On pathological examination the skin in each case showed the typical changes of GVHD. Both patients died. There have been few previous reports of GVHD occurring after accidental engraftment of immunosuppressed patients undergoing therapy for acute leukaemia. Our experience suggests that it may occur more often than has hitherto been recognised. At present there is controversy concerning the possible anti-leukaemic effects of granulocyte transfusions. Until the relative importance of the benefits and deleterious effects of cells with the potential for engraftment is determined by further studies, we recommend the routine irradiation of all cellular blood products intended for administration to acute leukaemia patients undergoing intensive cytoreductive chemotherapy.

Graft-versus-host reaction after blood transfusion in a patient with cellular immunodeficiency: the role of histocompatibility testing

A patient with an inborn cellular immunodeficiency syndrome developed a graft-versus-host reaction after a transfusion with packed red cells. This diagnosis was confirmed by skin biopsy and finally proved by tissue typing.

Leukapheresis and granulocyte transfusion

Granulocyte transfusion is becoming widely used in the treatment of infections in granulocytopenic patients. Several techniques are available for granulocyte collection. Some involve centrifugation of the whole blood and one removes granulocytes from whole blood by reversible adhesion to nylon fibers. The risks to the donor from leukapheresis do not appear to be greater than from whole blood donation. Granulocytes collected by centrifuge techniques function normally in vitro and have normal intravascular recovery and disappearance following transfusion. Granulocytes collected by filtration leukapheresis function almost normally in vitro but have a reduced intravascular recovery and abnormal kinetics as they leave the circulation. The role of leukocyte typing and compatibility testing for granulocyte transfusion is controversial. When the recipient has circulating antibody against donor leukocytes, transfused leukocytes do not circulate or migrate to sites of infection but are sequestered in the liver and spleen. Clinical studies have not defined whether patients benefit equally well clinically from transfusion of compatible or incompatible granulocytes. Initial reports of clinical trials of granulocyte transfusion were promising. However, similar patients who did not receive granulocytes were not studied. Most subsequent controlled trials showed a clear benefit from granulocyte transfusion while others did not. Differences in antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy, use of laminar flow rooms, and grouping of patients make it difficult to compare these clinical trials. Some, but not all, infected granulocytopenic patients benefit from transfusion. Granulocyte transfusions improve survival of granulocytopenic patients with gram negative sepsis and prolonged bone marrow aplasia. Studies are now attempting to identify other patients who should receive granulocytes, the optimum dose and schedule of transfusions, the optimum time to begin transfusion, and the value, if any, of prophylactic transfusions.