Chronic graft-versus-host disease-related polymyositis as a cause of respiratory failure following allogeneic bone marrow transplant

An unusual case of respiratory failure and dropped head syndrome as a compl ication of severe chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)-related polymyos itis is described. The patient required tracheostomy and mechanical ventila tion but recovered following treatment with aggressive immunosuppression an d intensive rehabilitation, The differential diagnoses of muscle weakness i n the bone marrow transplant (BMT) patient and the dropped head syndrome ar e both discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of resp iratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation occurring as a complicatio n of GVHD-related polymyositis.