Neurological complications after autologous stem cell transplantation

Introduction: Autologous bone marrow (BMT) or peripheral blood stem cell tr ansplantation (PBSCT) are increasingly used to treat hematological malignan cies and solid tumors. The reported incidence of neurological complications varies greatly among the different centers, ranging from 11 to 39%, Patien ts and Methods: In order to gain insight into the real incidence of early n eurological complications (first 6 weeks) after autologous transplantation, we analyzed a series of 254 patients who underwent BMT/PBSCT for hematolog ical malignancies (212 cases) or solid tumors (42 cases). Results: Seven pa tients died during the early posttransplant period (incidence: 2.4%), and o ne of these deaths was related to a neurological complication. Eight patien ts developed neurologic complications (incidence: 2.8%). None of the patien ts developed cerebral hemorrhage during the early posttransplant period, de spite a rather restrictive platelet transfusion support. Two out of 13 pati ents diagnosed AML and 3 out of 36 patients diagnosed Hodgkin's disease dev eloped early neurological complications, Discussion and Conclusions: The ne urological morbidity related to autologous transplantation was very low in our series of patients as compared to that reported in previous studies. Th is difference could be explained, at least in part, by a more restrictive d efinition of early neurologic complications.