Prophylactic red blood cell exchange for prevention of severe immune hemolysis in minor ABO-mismatched allogeneic peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation after reduced-intensity conditioning.

Background: Delayed severe immune hemolysis due to donor-derived passenger lymphocytes is observed in minor and/or bidirectional ABO-mismatched transplants, especially after reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC). The incidence is reported in up to 30 percent of patients and can result in multiorgan failure (MOF) and death.

Study Design And Methods: A first group of 32 patients (historical control) underwent RIC followed by allogeneic hematopoietic peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation at our institution.

A single-center pilot validation study of a new chronic GVHD skin scoring system.

The use of a quantifiable and reproducible measurement tool for skin manifestations of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is key for the successful assessment and documentation of therapeutic response. Skin scoring methods for use in clinical trials have not been validated for application in patients suffering from cGVHD. For this purpose we performed a prospective single-center pilot study to validate a skin-scoring tool developed at our institution for evaluating cutaneous involvement of cGVHD approximately 10 years ago.