Study of Viral Hepatitis B and C Infection in Patients Treated with Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Abstract

Hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) has become the standard of care for selected patients with severe hematological disorder, whether allogenic or autologous HSCT, these two modalities have improved and advanced since their introduction to provide better patient care and results. Hepatitis C and B remain a major health problem especially in developing countries like Egypt due to the high prevalence and problems in providing therapy due to financial reasons. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of patients with and without hepatitis B or C, following HSCT either allogenic or autologous HSCT. Our study included 120 patients who underwent HSCT, divided into two main groups. First group, included 73 patients who underwent allogenic HSCT. This group was further divided into 3 subgroups, Subgroup A: included 43 patients, who were hepatitis free, i.e. neither HBV nor HCV positive. Subgroup B: included 17 patients, who were HCV positive, and Subgroup C: included 13 patients who were HBV positive. Second group, included 47 patients who underwent autologous HSCT. This group was further divided into 2 subgroup Subgroup D: included 33 patients who were hepatitis free, i.e. neither HBV or HCV positive and Subgroup E: which included 14 patients who were either HBV or HCV positive. This is a retrospective study that included a full history about the pre-transplant clinical history and clinical investigations done for the recipient or the donors. Post-transplant clinical follow-up and clinical investigations were also included concentrating mainly on short-term follow up with a minimum period of 6 months post-transplant for all patients included in this study.