Rubella-associated aplastic anemia treated by syngeneic stem cell transplantations.

A 14-year-old boy presented with aplastic anemia 3 months after contracting rubella. Stem cell transplantations from his identical twin were carried out. Successful engraftment occurred only when conditioning therapy was given prior to the infusion of the syngeneic stem cells, supporting an immune mechanism to explain the pathogenesis of virus-associated aplastic anemia.