Bone marrow transplantation in a pediatric case of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia with hepatitis C]

An allogenic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in an acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) patient with post-transfusion hepatitis C is presented. A 13-year-old girl was admitted to our hospital on May 1988, and diagnosed as having ANLL M2 according to the FAB classification. During the induction and post-induction chemotherapy, 116 units of blood products were transfused to her as the supportive therapy until October 1988, when non-A non-B hepatitis developed. As the persistent liver dysfunction interfered with anti-leukemic chemotherapy on the protocol, allogeneic BMT from her HLA identical MLR nonreactive brother was done on July 1989. Preconditioning regimen consisted of busulfan and cyclophosphamide. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine A and short term methotrexate. After the BMT, her liver dysfunction once improved; her serum amino-transferase levels were normal for about 3 months. Soon after discontinuation of cyclosporine A, however, her liver function deteriorated again. The examination of hepatitis C virus antibody in her sera, which had been harvested sequentially and stored at -40 degrees C, on November 1989 revealed that she had been already seropositive at the time of BMT. The BMT-induced immunologic changes may have influenced the natural course of hepatitis C virus infection in the patient.