Early-onset lichenoid graft-vs.-host disease: a unique variant of acute graft-vs.-host disease occurring in peripheral blood stem cell transplant recipients.
BACKGROUND
A complication of stem cell transplantation is chronic graft-vs.-host disease (GvHD), developing months to years after transplant; the two commonest manifestations are lichenoid GvHD and scleroderma. The purpose of this study was to characterize early-onset lichenoid GvHD.


METHODS
A retrospective study identified patients diagnosed with early-onset lichenoid GvHD. This diagnosis was correlated with type of transplant and concurrent or prior episodes of acute GvHD.


RESULTS
Patients in whom a sex mismatch was present between donor and recipient were included, representing a study population of 17. All received an allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT). All patients had biopsy proven lichenoid GvHD within 60 days or less following transplantation. All had concurrent gastrointestinal symptoms which was biopsy proven GvHD in thirteen of the cases. FISH XY studies revealed that the infiltrating lymphocytes were of donor origin in 12 of the cases, mixed in three and of host origin in two cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Early-onset lichenoid GvHD is exclusive to the PBSCT setting and appears to be mediated by donor lymphocytes, reflecting the higher numbers of donor T cells encountered in PBSCT. We consider this reaction pattern a distinctive subtype of acute GvHD.
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10065, USA. cym2003@med.cornell.edu
Cynthia M
CM
Magro
Mary Jo
MJ
Kerns
Henry
H
Votava
Katherine E
KE
Vasil
Molly E
ME
Dyrsen
Carl D
CD
Morrison
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000145:classification; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000145:classification* / Q000209:etiology*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036102:Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000209:etiology