Posttransplantation thrombotic microangiopathy

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Thrombotic microangiopathy after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation” (Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. 2005 Aug;11(8):571-5). Authors are Ho VT, Culter S, Carter S et al., from the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network Toxicity Committee, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. The syndrome of microangiopathic hemolysis associated with renal failure, neurologic impairment, or both is a recognized complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This entity is often called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), yet it is clear that the pathophysiology of transplant-associated HUS/TTP is different from that of classic HUS or TTP. The toxicity committee of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network has reviewed the current literature on transplant-related HUS/TTP and recommends that it be henceforth renamed posttransplantation thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). To access the full abstract of the article, click here.