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Non Malignant Diseases

Haematopoietic SCT in autoimmune diseases in children: rationale and new perspectives

Abstract

The possible role of haematopoietic SCT (HSCT) for the treatment of severe autoimmune diseases was originally supported by animal experiments and remission of concomitant autoimmune diseases in patients undergoing transplantation for haematological disorders. Since 1996, over 100 procedures were performed in children with different severe autoimmune diseases such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, immune cytopaenias and Crohn's disease. This review tries to summarize the published data on efficacy and toxicity of HSCT in this group of patients.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Alberto Marmont for his suggestions and comments on the paper and Dr Riccardo Saccardi, Chair of the EBMT Autoimmune Disease Working Party, for supplying details of the EBMT database.

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Correspondence to M Rabusin.

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None of the authors declared any financial interests.

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Rabusin, M., Andolina, M., Maximova, N. et al. Haematopoietic SCT in autoimmune diseases in children: rationale and new perspectives. Bone Marrow Transplant 41 (Suppl 2), S96–S99 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2008.64

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