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Active tuberculosis limited to foreign-born patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 36, pages 741–743 (2005)Cite this article

Allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) recipients are predisposed to infection by a variety of opportunistic pathogens. Recipients of T-cell-depleted allografts and patients with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) may have more extensive and prolonged T-cell immunodeficiency, associated with a heightened risk for severe infection. We previously reported high rates of infection and colonization by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) at our center, where approximately two-thirds of allografts are T-cell depleted.1 Here we extend that analysis and report a high rate of tuberculosis (TB) infection confined exclusively to patients from TB endemic regions.

TB is a well-described pathogen among allo-SCT recipients and varies in frequency from 0 to 0.2% in reports from allo-SCT centers in the United States to 4% in reports from TB endemic regions.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 However, the prevalence of active TB after allo-SCT has not been reported for patients born in TB endemic regions who undergo allo-SCT at centers in the United States or Western Europe. To guide TB screening and therapy at our center, we sought to determine whether patient-specific factors would define a subset of allo-SCT recipients at high risk for active TB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    G Garces Ambrossi

  2. Department of Medicine, The Bone Marrow Transplant Division, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    A Jakubowski & D M Weinstock

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    M B Feinstein

  4. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    D M Weinstock

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  1. G Garces Ambrossi
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  2. A Jakubowski
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  3. M B Feinstein
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  4. D M Weinstock
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Garces Ambrossi, G., Jakubowski, A., Feinstein, M. et al. Active tuberculosis limited to foreign-born patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Bone Marrow Transplant 36, 741–743 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705129

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