Outcome of adult severe or very severe aplastic anemia treated with immunosuppressive therapy compared with bone marrow transplantation: multicenter trial.

To compare survival rates and long-term complications after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) or treatment with immunosuppressive agents (ISA) in the management of adult aplastic anemia (AA) and to identify prognostic factors associated with improved survival, we evaluated 229 adult AA patients treated with ISA from 1990 to 2001 and compared the results with those for 64 BMT recipients. Of 156 patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) or very severe AA treated with ISA (antithymocyte globulin [ATG] or ATG plus cyclosporine), 46.8% showed complete or partial response and 7.