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Case Reports
. 2020 May 7;135(19):1619-1629.
doi: 10.1182/blood.2019000956.

How I treat CMV reactivation after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Affiliations
Case Reports

How I treat CMV reactivation after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Hermann Einsele et al. Blood. .

Abstract

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation remains one of the most common and life-threatening infectious complications following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, despite novel diagnostic technologies, several novel prophylactic agents, and further improvements in preemptive therapy and treatment of established CMV disease. Treatment decisions for CMV reactivation are becoming increasingly difficult and must take into account whether the patient has received antiviral prophylaxis, the patient's individual risk profile for CMV disease, CMV-specific T-cell reconstitution, CMV viral load, and the potential drug resistance detected at the time of initiation of antiviral therapy. Thus, we increasingly use personalized treatment strategies for the recipient of an allograft with CMV reactivation based on prior use of anti-CMV prophylaxis, viral load, the assessment of CMV-specific T-cell immunity, and the molecular assessment of resistance to antiviral drugs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest disclosure: P.L. reports personal fees from AiCuris and grants from Astellas, Oxford Immunotech, Takeda (Shire), and MSD outside of the submitted work. M.B. reports grants and personal fees from Merck, Takeda/Shire, Gilead Sciences, and VirBio; grants from Astellas and Chimerix; personal fees, including options to acquire equity from Helocyte and EvrysBio; and personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Moderna, and AlloVir, outside of the submitted work. H.E. declares no competing financial interests.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Case 1: engraftment, viral reactivation, antiviral prophylaxis, treatment, and other relevant clinical data of a 37-year-old woman with high-risk multiple myeloma.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Case 2: engraftment, viral reactivation, antiviral prophylaxis, treatment, and other relevant clinical data of a 62-year-old man with ALL in remission.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Viral load thresholds for starting preemptive therapy. Adapted from CMV Prevention: Prophylaxis, Surveillance, and Preemptive Therapy in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients Guidelines.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Case 3: engraftment, viral reactivation, antiviral prophylaxis, treatment, and other relevant clinical data of a 52-year-old woman with Philadelphia-positive ALL in CR.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Case 4: engraftment, viral reactivation, antiviral prophylaxis, treatment, and other relevant clinical data of a 55-year-old man with AML in CR.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Case 5: engraftment, viral reactivation, antiviral prophylaxis, treatment, and other relevant clinical data of a 28-year-old man with high-risk AML in CR.

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