Complete response in severe thrombotic microangiopathy post bone marrow transplantation (BMT-TM) after multiple plasmaphereses.

A 44-year-old male with Ph+ chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) underwent histoidentical allogeneic bone marrow transplantation 18 months after initial diagnosis. He received pretransplant conditioning with busulphan and cyclophosphamide (Bucy). GVHD prophylaxis consisted of methotrexate, cyclosporine (CsA) and methylprednisolone. On day +50, he developed a microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia with indirect bilirubinaemia, 10% fragmented red cells (FC) and an elevated LDH (1213 U/l: normal range 100-185 U/l). Clinical symptoms consisted of edema and hypertension. The patient was not febrile and had no neurological changes. A clinical diagnosis of severe (grade 4) multifactorial (acute GVHD, CMV infection and cyclosporine) BMT-TM was made. He responded following 19 plasma exchanges with replacement with fresh frozen plasma.