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Title: Intra-arterial Methylprednisolone Infusion in Treatment-Resistant Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Journal Article · · Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Vascular and Interventional Radiology (United States)

Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a potentially fatal complication following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Standard primary therapy for acute GVHD includes systemic steroids, often in combination with other agents. Unfortunately, primary treatment failure is common and carries a high mortality. There is no generally accepted secondary therapy for acute GVHD. Although few data on localized therapy for GVHD have been published, intra-arterial injection of high-dose corticosteroids may be a viable option. We treated 11 patients with steroid-resistant GVHD using a single administration of intra-arterial high-dose methylprednisolone. Three patients (27%) died periprocedurally. Four patients (36%) had a partial response to intra-arterial treatment and were discharged on total parenteral nutrition and oral medication. Four patients (36%) had a complete response and were discharged on oral diet and oral medication. No immediate treatment or procedure-related complications were noted. Twenty-seven percent of patients survived long-term. Our preliminary results suggest that regional intra-arterial treatment of steroid-resistant GVHD is a safe and potentially viable secondary therapy in primary treatment-resistant GVHD.

OSTI ID:
21428978
Journal Information:
Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, Vol. 33, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1007/s00270-009-9792-3; Copyright (c) 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE); ISSN 0174-1551
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English