title: Hematologic aspects of myeloablative therapy and bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: The transplantation of bone marrow cells or isolated hematopoietic stem cells from the bone marrow or peripheral blood is a widely utilized form of therapy for patients with incurable diseases of the hematopoietic and immune systems. Successful engraftment of the transplanted stem cells in an adequately prepared recipient normally leads to bone marrow reconstitution over a period of several weeks, accompanied by more gradual reconstitution of the immune system. Since the recipient is profoundly ill during the initial treatment period, laboratory data is critical for monitoring engraftment, detecting residual/recurrent disease, and identifying problems that may delay bone marrow reconstitution or lead to other medical complications. Accurate blood cell counts are imperative, and most bone marrow transplantation patients undergo periodic monitoring with bone marrow aspirates and biopsies with cytogenetic, molecular, and multiparametric flow cytometric studies. The potential complications of bone marrow transplantation include engraftment failure and delayed engraftment, infection, residual bone marrow disease, acute and chronic graft versus host disease, myelofibrosis, therapy-related acute leukemia, post-transplant lympho-proliferative disorders, and toxic myelopathy.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Virginia Hospitals, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0250, USA. rsriley@hsc.vcu.edu
authors.forename: Roger S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Idowu
authors.forename: Alden
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chesney
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCarty
authors.forename: Lawrence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Lamb
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ben-Ezra
mesh_terms: D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D006410:Hematopoiesis; D006801:Humans; D007154:Immune System Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning