NEUTROPENIAS FOLLOWING ALLOGENEIC BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION - RESPONSE TO THERAPY WITH HIGH-DOSE INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN

Cytopenias following bone marrow transplantation may be severe and lif e-threatening. These have been described post-allogeneic Klumpp, 1991: Bone Marrow Transplant 8:159-171, or post-autologous bone marrow tran splants Khouri et al., 1994: J Clin Oncol 12:748-758. as well as with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation Klumpp et al., 1999: Am J H ematol 41:215-217. It can be immune mediated, associated on occasions with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) Anasetti et al., 1989: Blood 4:1 054-1058; however, in most cases, the underlying mechanism is uncertai n, The treatment of post-transplant cytopenias is not well established , and they are often refractory to immunosuppressive therapy with ster oids, Herein we describe two cases of neutropenia after allogeneic bon e marrow transplantation that improved after therapy with high-dose in travenous immunoglobulin. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.