Introduction
Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is a rare but
serious complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
As a part of the family of thrombotic endothelium disorders, the disease
causes microangiopathic hemolytic anemia leading to microvascular
thrombosis and fibrin deposition in the microvessels. Due to a lack of
clear diagnostic criteria, it is difficult to determine incidence and
mortality for the disease, but values are estimated to range from 3% to
39% for incidence and exceed 50% for mortality
(1,2,3).
Currently, research shows that TMA is induced by endothelial cell injury
which could be the result of either infection, graft-versus-host disease
(GVHD), chemotherapy or radiation.
Literature demonstrates increased incidence status post allogeneic HCST
when compared to its autologous counterpart
({…}4,5). While a few case studies of pediatric
patients note that TA-TMA was preceded by a HHV6 infection, there is an
ultimate lack of data regarding HHV6 association with TA-TMA
(5). The purpose of our study is to estimate the
incidence of TA-TMA in children receiving HSCT and reveal other
potential risk factors and its impact on healthcare outcomes in this
population.