ABSTRACT
Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) is a severe immunological-clinicopathological condition mediated by healthy T-lymphocytes in donor tissue against the immunosuppressed host tissue and rarely seen after solid organ transplantation (SOT). A 72-year old male patient underwent cadaveric liver transplantation. On day 34 of the postoperative follow-up, the patient developed fever, generalized skin rash and hemorrhagic lesions in the oropharynx. Skin biopsy was consistent with GVHD. Despite high-dose corticosteroid treatment, he died on postoperative day 51. Although it is seen rarely after liver transplantation, GVHD is an important clinical entity for which early diagnosis is critical due to its high rates of mortality.
ABSTRACT
A large cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients from several collaborating Turkish institutions were examined for the tumor parameters of maximum diameter (MTD), portal vein thrombosis (PVT), and α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. A relationship was found between MTD and blood platelet levels. Patients with large ≥5 cm tumors who had normal platelet levels had significantly larger tumors, higher percent of PVT, and significantly lower blood total bilirubin and liver cirrhosis than similar ≥5 cm tumor patients having thrombocytopenia. A comparison of patients with and without PVT showed significantly larger tumors, greater multifocality, blood AFP, and C-reactive protein levels, and, interestingly, lower HDL levels in the patients with PVT. Fifty-eight percent of the total cohort had AFP levels ≤100 IU/mL (and 42.1% had values ≤20 IU/mL). These patients had significantly smaller tumors, less tumor multifocality and percent PVT, lower total bilirubin, and less cirrhosis. There was considerable geographic heterogeneity within Turkey in the patterns of HCC presentation, with areas of higher and lower hepatitis B virus, hepatitis D virus, cirrhosis, and tumor aggressiveness parameters. Turkish patients thus have distinct patterns of presentation, but the biological relationships between MTD and both platelets and bilirubin levels are similar to the relationships that have been reported in other ethnic patient groups.