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Guillain–Barré syndrome associated with cytomegalovirus infection after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Author(s) -
HernándezBoluda J.C.,
Lis M.J.,
Goterris R.,
Arbona C.,
Terol M.J.,
Tormo M.,
Solano C.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3062.2005.00098.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immunology , molecular mimicry , hematopoietic stem cell transplantation , cytomegalovirus , ganciclovir , transplantation , autoantibody , stem cell , disease , leukemia , antigen , virus , herpesviridae , viral disease , human cytomegalovirus , antibody , pathology , biology , genetics
The association between cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and the development of Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) in the setting of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) has been reported only occasionally. We describe here a 23‐year‐old patient diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia who underwent a partially HLA‐mismatched alloSCT and soon after developed GBS along with a CMV infection. Serum autoantibodies to several ganglioside antigens were concomitantly detected. Despite therapy with ganciclovir and plasma exchanges, the patient's clinical condition rapidly deteriorated, and he died 3 weeks later with persisting CMV antigenemia. Although a coincidental association cannot be excluded, it could be speculated that a pathogenetic link exists between the 2 disorders. In this sense, molecular mimicry between viral antigens and neural host tissues could be postulated as the hypothetical mechanism underlying the triggering of the autoimmune disease in the present case.