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Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Prospective qualitative and quantitative non-invasive evaluation of intestinal acute GVHD by contrast-enhanced ultrasound sonography

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 48, pages 1421–1428 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Intestinal acute GVHD (I-aGVHD) is a life-threatening complication after allografting. Non-invasive bed-side procedures to evaluate extension and treatment response are still lacking. We hypothesized that, during I-aGVHD, contrast-enhanced ultrasound sonography (CEUS) could detect microcirculation changes (MVC) of the bowel wall (BW) and help to monitor treatment response. We prospectively employed CEUS in 83 consecutive patients. Of these, 14 patients with biopsy-proven intestinal GVHD (I-GVHD) were defined as the study group, whereas 16 patients with biopsy-proven stomach GVHD (U-GVHD) without intestinal symptoms, 6 normal volunteers and 4 patients with neutropenic enterocolitis were defined as the control group. All patients were evaluated with both standard ultrasonography (US) and CEUS at the onset of intestinal symptoms, during clinical follow-up and at flare of symptoms. Standard US revealed BW thickening of multiple intestinal segments, useful to determine the extension of GVHD. CEUS showed MVC, which correlated with GVHD activity, treatment response, and predicted flare of intestinal symptoms. US and CEUS findings were superimposable at diagnosis and in remission. CEUS was, however, more sensitive and specific to identify subclinical activity in patients with clinical relevant improvement. These findings were not observed in the control groups. CEUS is a non-invasive, easily reproducible bed-side tool useful to monitor I-aGVHD.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the nurses and medical staff for caring for the patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology, S. Chiara Hospital, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    E Benedetti, F Caracciolo, F Papineschi, M Pelosini, S Galimberti & M Petrini

  2. SIUMB Basic Course & Emergency School of Ultrasonography (SIUMB—Italian Society of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology), Pisa, Italy

    E Benedetti

  3. Division of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the S. Giovanni Battista Hospital, University of Torino, Torino, Italy

    B Bruno

  4. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    G B McDonald

  5. Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    A Paolicchi

  6. Division of Pathological Anatomy, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    D Campani

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Benedetti, E., Bruno, B., McDonald, G. et al. Prospective qualitative and quantitative non-invasive evaluation of intestinal acute GVHD by contrast-enhanced ultrasound sonography. Bone Marrow Transplant 48, 1421–1428 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2013.65

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