Special issues related to hematopoietic SCT in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the first regional activity report.

Although several centers are now performing allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) in the Eastern Mediterranean (EM) region, the availability is still limited. Special issues including compatible donor availability and potential for alternative donor programs are discussed. In comparison to Europe and North America, differences in patterns of diseases and pre-HSCT general status, particularly for patients with BM failure, are described. Other differences including high sero-positivity for CMV, hepatitis B and C infection, and specific observations about GVHD and its relation to genetically homogeneous communities are also discussed. We report that a total of 17 HSCT programs (performing five or more HSCTs annually) exist in 9 countries of the EM region. Only six programs are currently reporting to European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation or Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplantation Research. A total of 7617 HSCTs have been performed by these programs including 5701 allogeneic HSCTs. The area has low-HSCT team density (1.56 teams per 10 million inhabitants vs 14.43 in Europe) and very low-HSCT team distribution (0.27 teams per 10 000 sq km area vs <1-6 teams in Europe). Gross national income per capita had no clear association with low-HSCT activity. Much improvement in infrastructure and formation of an EM regional HSCT registry are needed.

An early increase in serum levels of C-reactive protein is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of major complications and 100-day transplant-related mortality after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

We monitored levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in 96 consecutive adult allogeneic BMT patients (age 15-50 years) transplanted in our unit. Major transplant-related complications (MTC) occurred in 32% of cases and included: hepatic veno-occlusive disease, pneumonitis, severe endothelial leakage syndrome and >II acute GVHD. Transplant-related mortality (TRM) before day 100 post-BMT was 13.5%. Variables included in a stepwise logistic regression model were: gender, age, disease category, donor type, T cell depletion, TBI, use of growth factors, bacteremia, mean CRP-levels >50 mg/l between days 0 and 5 (CRP day 0-5) and >100 mg/l between days 6 and 10 (CRP day 6-10) post-BMT. Only high CRP-levels (for MTC and TRM) (P < 0.001) and donor-type (for TRM) (P= 0.02) were independent risk factors. The estimated probability for MTC was 73% (CRP day 6-10 >100 mg/l) vs 17% (CRP day 6-10 <100 mg/l). Using the same cut-off levels, the probabilities for TRM were 36.5% vs 1% in the identical sibling donor situation and 88% vs 12.5% in other donor-type transplants. We conclude that the degree of systemic inflammation, as reflected by CRP-levels, during the first 5-10 days after BMT identifies patients at risk of MTC and TRM. Our data may be useful in selecting patients for clinical trials involving pre-emptive anti-inflammatory treatment.