LARGE GRANULAR LYMPHOCYTE LEUKEMIA OCCURRING AFTER RENAL-TRANSPLANTATION

Post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD) are a clinic opathologically heterogenous group of lymphoid proliferations, The maj ority are of B-cell origin and associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV ) infection. In contrast, the development of T-cell PTLD is much less common and EBV does not appear to be involved in pathogenesis. In this report we describe three patients who developed large granular lympho cyte (LGL) leukaemia after renal transplantation. These patients had c lonal expansion of CD3(+), CD8(+), CD57(+), CD56(-) LGL. We were unabl e to detect CMV antigen or find evidence for EBV or human T-cell leuka emia/lymphoma virus genome in the LGL from these patients. These data show that LGL leukaemia should be included as one of the types of T-ce ll proliferations which can occur post transplant.