Abstract 3503

Background:

Aplastic anemia (AA) is a life-threatening bone marrow failure disorder. Therefore, many patients with AA require blood transfusions as supportive management. Regular transfusions of packed red cell (PRC) lead to the development of iron overload, which is known to increase the risk of complications after stem cell transplantation (SCT). However, the prognostic impact of pretransplant transfusion history of PRC on outcome in AA has not been completely analyzed. We investigated the impact of pretransplant transfusion amount of PRC on outcome after allogeneic SCT in severe AA (SAA).

Methods:

221 adult patients with SAA who underwent allogeneic SCT between January 1995 and August 2007 who had not received optimal iron chelating therapy were selected for retrospective analysis.

Results:

221 patients were divided into two groups according to the mean amount of pretransplant transfusion (32 PRC units): receiving less than 32 PRC units (n=164), >32 PRC units (n=57) before SCT. The median follow-up duration of survivors after SCT was 47.9 (39.5-56.2) months in ≤32 PRC units of transfusion group and 42.8 (39.7-45.9) months in >32 PRC units of transfusion group. Primary engraftment was achieved in all, but 13 patients (9/164 patient, 5.5% in the ≤32 PRC units of transfusion group, 4/57 patients, 7% in the >32 PRC units of transfusion group, P=0.745) developed secondary graft failure. Acute GVHD (grade II-IV) developed in 27.4% in ≤32 PRC units of transfusion group and 42.1% in >32 PRC units of transfusion group (P=0.04), and extensive type of chronic GVHD occurred in 20.7% and 26.3% among evaluable patients, respectively. In the comparison between two groups, higher pretransplant transfusion group has significantly increased risk of transplant-related mortality (TRM) (<32 PRC units of transfusion: 8.2% vs >32 PRC units of transfusion: 25.2%, P=<0.000), and lower overall survival (OS) (91.8% vs 75.2%, P=0.001) than those with lesser transfusion history. Multivariate analysis revealed that higher pretransplant PRC amount [HR (95% CI) 3.09 (1.44-6.63), P=0.004] and donor type (related vs unrelated) [HR 2.41 (95% CI) (1.10-5.27), P=0.028] were independent prognostic factor for affecting OS.

Conclusion:

These results indicate that higher pre-transplant transfusion history of PRC was associated with increased TRM and decreased OS, and it has shown to have a negative impact on outcome after SCT in SAA.

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival (a) and transplant-related mortality (b) according to pretransplant transfusion (≤32 PRC units vs >32 PRC units).
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Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival (a) and transplant-related mortality (b) according to pretransplant transfusion (≤32 PRC units vs >32 PRC units).

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival (a) and transplant-related mortality (b) according to pretransplant transfusion (≤32 PRC units vs >32 PRC units).
View largeDownload slide

Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival (a) and transplant-related mortality (b) according to pretransplant transfusion (≤32 PRC units vs >32 PRC units).

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Disclosures:

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Topics:
allogeneic stem cell transplant, aplastic anemia, transfusion, transplantation, blood transfusion, follow-up, graft-versus-host disease, acute, graft-versus-host disease, chronic, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, iron

Author notes

*

Asterisk with author names denotes non-ASH members.

© 2010 by The American Society of Hematology
2010
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