Prevalence and Trend of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Adult Aplastic Anemia/Pure Red Cell Aplasia in Korea.

Aplastic anemia (AA) and pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) seems more frequent in Asian countries including Korea. However, there is no exact data regarding its prevalence and frequency of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in Korea. Here we present the demographic data of AA/PRCA in Korea. Data were prepared by retrieving computerized database of National Health Insurance Corporation and Korea National Statistical Office. HSCT data were collected from all HSCT centers in Korea through Korea Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Nurses’ Society. The selection criteria of PRCA and AA were D60 and D61 in ICD-10 code. Study years for crude incidence/prevalence of AA/PRCA and trend of HSCT for AA/PRCA were from 2000 to 2005, and from 1997 to 2006, respectively. All patients were 10 or more years old. In terms of prevalence, PRCA was decreasing annually from 2000 to 2005 with 0.97, 1.12, 0.72, 0.61, 0.67, and 0.47 per 100,000 persons, respectively. On the contrary, the prevalence of AA was almost same from 2000 to 2005 with 11.28, 12.93, 12.36, 11.07, 11.09, and 10.54 per 100,000 persons, respectively. Female was more affected to both AA and PRCA. The average female to male ratios in AA and PRCA were 1.38 and 1.82. The peak decades of AA were fourth and fifth decades. On the other hand, the peak decades of PRCA were second and sixth decades. The frequency of HSCT for AA/PRCA was increasing in spite of the decreasing crude incidence during a decade from 1997 to 2006, in that 48, 56, 78, 88, 69, 68, 76, 85, 86, and 92, respectively. The frequency of HSCT was similar in both genders. In spite of the possibility of over-estimation, the prevalence of AA and PRCA was very higher in Korea than in western countries.