Efficacy and safety of immunosuppressive therapy in the treatment of seronegative hepatitis associated aplastic anemia

Fatal Hepatitis-Associated Aplastic Anemia in a Young Male

Hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia is a rare syndrome in which bone marrow failure occurs within weeks to 1 year after attack of acute hepatitis. Studies suggest that cytotoxic T lymphocytes play a central role in bone marrow destruction, but the exact etiology remains unknown. Bone marrow transplantation or immunosuppressive therapy are primary curative options. We present a case of a young male who was admitted to the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology for acute hepatitis of an unknown cause. Liver biopsy revealed extensive inflammatory process with hepatocyte necrosis. Forty days later, new onset pancytopenia was identified. Bone marrow biopsy showed severe hypocellularity, and he was diagnosed with severe hepatitis-associated aplastic anemia. Treatment with cyclosporine was initiated, but with inadequate response, and pretransplant evaluation was started. Due to severe neutropenia, following alveotomy procedure, the patient developed deep neck infection with consequent airway obstruction. Despite urgent treatment, his condition deteriorated to sepsis with lethal outcome.

Long-term follow-up of hepatitis-associated aplastic anaemia

Prognosis of hepatitis-associated aplastic anaemia (HAAA) was improved with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and immunosuppression, but the long-term outcome remains undefined. Case 1: a girl aged 3 years with acute liver failure (ALF) submitted to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) subsequently developed aplastic anaemia and HSCT from a compatible sibling was performed. Post-HSCT, the patient developed post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder and rituximab was administered with good response. Fifteen years later, both grafts show good outcome. Case 2: a girl aged 10 years submitted to OLT due to ALF, developed pancytopenia 2 months later. Due to the absence of a human leucocyte antigen compatible donor, she was treated with ciclosporin and antithymocyte globulin with very good long-term outcome. These clinical cases suggest that, for patients with HAAA that underwent OLT, aggressive therapy with HSCT or immunosuppression may provide a benign long-term outcome.

Outcome of anti-thymocyte immunoglobulin plus cyclosporine A for severe aplastic anaemia with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

The influence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on the efficacy of intensive immunosuppressive treatment (IST) of severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) patients remains unclear. Previous reports on this topic have been mostly case reports or have had a relatively short follow-up. Eight SAA patients carrying chronic HBV infection and 24 matched patients without HBV at a ratio of 1:3 were included in this retrospective analysis. The patients were treated with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporine A. Entecavir was or was not administered throughout the IST course to patients with positive or negative HBV-DNA results, respectively. No evident HBV reactivation developed. The overall response was 87.5% by 12 months, and the recurrence rate was 12.5%. There were no significant differences in overall response, overall survival and event-free survival between groups. Entecavir can effectively prevent reactivation of HBV in SAA patients with positive HBV-DNA who received intensive IST. Regular surveillance may be sufficient for HBV-DNA negative patients who should receive antiviral drugs immediately when their HBV-DNA status changes from negative to positive. The prognosis of SAA patients with chronic HBV infection after intensive IST treatment is not worse than those without HBV infection.