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Prevention of hepatitis B virus transmission from an infected stem cell donor

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 40, pages 399–400 (2007)Cite this article

The decision to accept a sibling with active hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donation is controversial owing to the potential risk of viral transmission to the recipient and subsequent development of hepatitis B, which might be fatal.1, 2, 3 Here, we report a successful strategy to prevent transmission from a viremic donor to an HBV-naive recipient.

A 23-year-old male with acute myeloblastic leukemia M1 was accepted for allogeneic transplantation after achieving complete remission. His only brother was human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched, but the donor was HBV-infected (serum positive for HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBe, HBV-DNA (11 400 copies/ml) and negative for HBeAg) (Table 1). Serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were normal; liver biopsy showed chronic inflammation and intracellular replication of the virus. No 10-antigen matched unrelated donor was identified, so the HBV(+) sibling was considered to be a better option compared to an alternative mismatched donor.

Table 1 Summary of serum HBV tests in donor and recipient
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology and Transplantology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland

    A Piekarska, J M Zaucha & A Hellmann

  2. Gastroenterology/Hepatology Section, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    G B McDonald

Authors
  1. A Piekarska
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  2. J M Zaucha
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  3. A Hellmann
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  4. G B McDonald
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Correspondence to J M Zaucha.

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Piekarska, A., Zaucha, J., Hellmann, A. et al. Prevention of hepatitis B virus transmission from an infected stem cell donor. Bone Marrow Transplant 40, 399–400 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705740

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