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Parvovirus B19 pneumonia in a child undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 40, pages 89–91 (2007)Cite this article

Parvovirus B19 (B19) is a single-stranded DNA virus, which preferentially replicates in erythroid progenitor cells.1 In immunocompetent individuals, the majority of B19 infection is asymptomatic, and the most common clinical presentation in children is erythema infectiosum.1 In contrast, in patients undergoing solid organ transplantation or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), refractory anemia is the predominant clinical manifestation.2 In this patient population, B19 infection has also been associated with complications such as allograft dysfunction, hepatitis or myocarditis, but nonetheless, relatively little is known about B19 syndromes in transplanted patients. We report for the first time a patient undergoing allogeneic HSCT and suffering from B19 pneumonia, which was suspected since B19 genome was detected in lung tissue as well as in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and pleural effusion.

For detection of parvoviral genomes, quantitative PCR (TaqMan) was performed using primers and probes as described previously.3 In brief, formaldehyde-fixed tissues were used for analysis and rehydrated before DNA extraction. For quantification of the number of viral genomes in relation to the number of cells in the respective tissue, the gene encoding human pyruvate dehydrogenase was submitted for quantitative PCR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    F Beske, J Sörensen, T Klingebiel, D Schwabe & T Lehrnbecher

  2. Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

    S Modrow

  3. Department of Pediatric Radiology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    H Schmidt

  4. Institute of Pathology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    S Kriener

  5. Institute of Medical Virology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

    R Allwinn

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  1. F Beske
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  3. J Sörensen
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  4. H Schmidt
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  7. T Klingebiel
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  8. D Schwabe
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Correspondence to T Lehrnbecher.

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Beske, F., Modrow, S., Sörensen, J. et al. Parvovirus B19 pneumonia in a child undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 40, 89–91 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705693

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