Diagnosis of gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease - Is rectal biopsy enough?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal GVHD can be difficult to establish and endoscopic diagnosis entails a procedural risk. The aim of this study was to determine whether rectal biopsy alone might be sufficient to establish or exclude the diagnosis of intestinal GVHD. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of children with histological evidence of gastrointestinal GVHD after allogeneic BMT at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, between January 1981 and July 2004. RESULTS: During the study period, 264 patients received alloge..