A 36-year-old woman received an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant for recurrent Hodgkin's disease. Failure to thrive, pancytopenia, and multiple infections complicated her first year after autologous transplant. She required blood products and growth factors on a chronic basis, and nutrition support was begun 8 months after transplant. After other nutrition interventions failed, enteral feeding was initiated, which eventually brought her to her pretransplant weight. Although transplant patients are monitored closely with regard to nutrition, such a difficult course and the need for an extended period of nutrition support are unusual for an autologous transplant patient.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
1. Weisdorf SAS, Schwarzenberg SJ.Nutritional Support of Bone Marrow Transplant Recipients. In: Forman SJ, Blume KG, Thomas ED, eds. Bone Marrow Transplantation. Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1994;327–36.
2.
2. Krishnamurthy S, Schuffler MD.Pathology of neuromuscular disorders of the small intestine and colon. Gastroenterology1987;93:610–39.
3.
3. Coghlin Dickson T.Clinical pathway nutrition management for outpatient bone marrow transplants. J Am Diet Assoc1997;97:61–3.
