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Cryptosporidium parvum infection vs GVHD after hematopoietic SCT: diagnosis by PCR with resolution of symptoms

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 46, pages 612–614 (2011)Cite this article

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Both acute GVHD and intestinal cryptosporidial infection cause persistent diarrhea in allogeneic transplant recipients. Differentiating one from the other from the coexistence of both GVHD and cryptosporidial infection remains problematic. As shown in this case, PCR for cryptosporidium allows more accurate diagnosis than microscopic examination of stool and histology of mucosal biopsies.

CD4 lymphocyte counts were determined several times between days 210 and 500, and they were always over 250 CD4 per μL; in fact, since day 510, CD4 counts were over 500 μL−1, suggesting that other factors contributed to the infections in our patient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    E Sebastián, J Martín, L Vazquez & M D Caballero

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

    G B McDonald

  3. Department of Pathological Anatomy, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    T Flores

  4. Department of Digestive, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    A Rodríguez

  5. Department of Parasitology, National Center of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    A Blanco & I de Fuentes

Authors
  1. E Sebastián
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  2. J Martín
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  3. G B McDonald
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  4. T Flores
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  9. M D Caballero
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Correspondence to E Sebastián.

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Sebastián, E., Martín, J., McDonald, G. et al. Cryptosporidium parvum infection vs GVHD after hematopoietic SCT: diagnosis by PCR with resolution of symptoms. Bone Marrow Transplant 46, 612–614 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2010.156

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