Best facility to treat acute graft verses host disease- asking again?

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Asking this question again, my husband passed away from acute graft verses host disease from a university medical school in the midwest, he was in the hospital and acquired GVHD on about day 17 after bone marrow transplant which lasted about a month, this was horrific and I'm a nurse, he had C- diff from day after transplant to CMV, BK virus, graft verses host of gut, skin and liver with an ileus, GI bleeding from rectum, large raw sores to bottom, thighs and back and gallbladder attack, I 'm wondering if he had been transferred to a different facility when acute graft verses host began a month prior could have possibly helped, if there is a facility that is good at treating this terrible disease??
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what are the effects of graft versus host disease?

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family member had stem cell transplant now has host disease
There are basically two types of Stem Cell transplants. One is Autologous...which means the cells are your own that were harvested at an earlier time. The other is an Allogenic.....which means you received your cells from another person (preferrable a sibling) or a stranger based on HLA matching. Graft vs Host is fairly common in the second type of transplant (which I'd bet your family member had). Think of it this way... "graft" refers to the cells from transplant, and "host" refers to you family member's body. The graft cells are foreign to the body, and if the host's immune system recognizes it as foreign if will try to attack and reject it. It can affect any part of the body and the prognosis is often determined by where it attacks, and the severity. The most common areas affected are the skin, and stomach. It can be very uncomfortable and hard to treat/get under control. A mild case of GVH is also conseidered a good thing because it can shows the host's immune system is beginning to work. Bone marrow transplants are usually a very rough road, and they often come with many bumps along the way. I hope your family member feels better and enjoys a long life.  (+ info)

Host-versus-graft disease refers to:?

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a. rejection of tissue immediately following transplant
b. T-cells in grafted tissue attacking host cells
c. infection resulting from immunosuppression threapy
d. transplant rejection by the recipient's immune system
I think it's d, sorry I got confused... I'm not really sure about the answer given that HvG is different to GvH  (+ info)

Graft vs. Host disease symptoms?

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I would appreciate anyone who's survived a bout w/ GVH to tell me of their experience. I would really appreciate knowing what to expect.
Go to WebMD.com and enter your key words in the search bar. This is an excellent site.  (+ info)

Is so called 'graft-versus-host' disease real!!!!?

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Yes, it is an adverse reaction to a transplany. Your immune system recognizeses the transplanted organ, tissue, etc as "foriegn" and tries to rid itself of the transplanted material.  (+ info)

my father had a stem cell transplant and is now showing signs of graft vs host disease what is gvhd?

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is this deadly for him what will be going through does this mean that he will have to go threw the treatment for aml again. any info on this will be welcomed i just want to know what to expect
Graft-vs.-host disease is an immune attack on the recipient by cells from a donor.
The main problem with transplanting organs and tissues is that the recipient host does not recognize the new tissue as its own. Instead, it attacks it as foreign in the same way it attacks germs, to destroy it.
If immunogenic cells from the donor are transplanted along with the organ or tissue, they will attack the host, causing graft vs. host disease.
The only transplanted tissues that house enough immune cells to cause graft vs. host disease are the blood and the bone marrow. Blood transfusions are used every day in hospitals for many reasons. Bone marrow transplants are used to replace blood forming cells and immune cells. This is necessary for patients whose cancer treatment has destroyed their own bone marrow. Because bone marrow cells are among the most sensitive to radiation and chemotherapy, it often must be destroyed along with the cancer. This is true primarily of leukemias, but some other cancers have also been treated this way.
Both the acute and the chronic disease are treated with cortisone-like drugs, immunosuppressive agents like cyclosporine, or with antibiotics and immune chemicals from donated blood (gamma globulin). Infection with one particular virus, called cytomegalovirus (CMV) is so likely a complication that some experts recommend treating it ahead of time.  (+ info)

what is graft vs. host disease?

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What Is Graft-Versus-Host Disease?
Patients who receive a stem cell transplant from an identical twin donor, are infused with stem cells that are truly identical to their own. All other recipients of donor stem cells, whether from HLA-identical sibling donors, or from matched unrelated donors, will be infused with stem cells that are different from the patient's own stem cells. The human immune system is based on recognition of "self" against "different” or "foreign". Immune systems are trained to attack and destroy "foreign" proteins, whether they are bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, or transplanted tissues. Thus, the differences between the tissues of the patient and the stem cells of the donor lead to a fight and attempts of one to destroy the other. The patient's tissues (host tissues) will try to destroy the stem cells. This process is called "rejection" and is more frequent as the donor and recipient are less well matched. Rejection of the stem cells results in failure of the new stem cells to grow and produce sufficient blood cells. The patient continues to have low white cell and platelet counts and continues to be at risk of infection and bleeding. Repeating the transplant is the only way of helping the patient. Often the re-transplant does not succeed in raising the white cells fast enough to prevent fatal infections. Fortunately, rejection is uncommon, since the issues of the patient have been suppressed by the chemotherapy and radiation given to destroy the malignant cells ("preparative regimen").

A "reversed rejection" can also occur. Under this scenario, the healthy donor stem cells recognize the patient's tissues as foreign and attack them. This is the "transplant against the patient", or "Graft-versus-Host" reaction. The complication is called "Graft-versus-Host Disease" (GvHD).

What Types Of GvHD Exist?
Commonly, GvHD is divided into acute GvHD and chronic GvHD. Acute GvHD occurs within the first 100 days after transplant, but most often between 25 and 60 days after stem cell infusion. Chronic GvHD occurs beyond day 100 after transplant. Acute GvHD can lead to chronic GvHD, but chronic GvHD may occur without any evidence of previous acute GvHD. The chronic variant of GvHD may occur up to several years after transplant, indicating that the "fight" between donor stem cells and patient tissues can continue for years. In fact, at some level the fight between donor and recipient will never stop. The donor stem cells will never feel completely at home. In patients receiving a graft from an HLA-identical sibling, ultimately the donor stem cells will function quite normally. Patients who received grafts from HLA-mismatched donors will remain at an increased risk of infections for many years.

What Are The Symptoms Of Acute GvHD?
When acute GvHD develops, white cells ("lymphocytes") from the stem-cell graft move towards target tissues. Through direct contact or through proteins produced by these cells ("lymphokines"), the target tissues get damaged. The major targets are the skin, bowel, and liver. The skin is often the first tissue that shows signs of attack. Skin rash develops, often starting on the palms, soles, and behind the ears. Other parts of the body, such as scalp, upper chest and back, and abdomen may follow. Some patients will have redness of their entire skin. A skin biopsy (small biopsy of skin, about 1/8" in diameter) usually confirms the diagnosis, but the clinical picture is quite typical.

The second tissue that can be involved is the bowel. This leads to diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The diarrhea is caused by loss of cells that cover the inside of the bowel, leading to loss of fluids and proteins from the body. The small bowel, particularly the last part of it (jejunum and ileum), is the main target of the GvHD reaction. Cramps start when a large area of bowel has lost its cover ("mucous membrane") and peristalsis becomes less organized. Diarrhea can vary from one loose stool a day to 2 gallons of diarrhea! In severe cases of diarrhea, it is difficult to support the patient through the loss of fluid and nutrients. The damaged gut is also an easy entry port for bacteria and fungi.

The third tissue involved by acute GvHD is the liver. Patients develop jaundice, because the bile ducts become clogged and bile backs up into the blood instead of being excreted into the bowel. The jaundice is itself not life-threatening, but the liver can be damaged by the GvHD reaction. Other tissues, such as lung, adrenal glands, and pancreas can also show signs of acute GvHD, but their significance is uncertain.  (+ info)

Graft vs host disease?

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i had my bone marrow transplant 2 years ago (in 2006) and the tranplant went great my blood count has been completely normal for 2 years now...but i got gvhd about 6 months after it and i still have it, its on my skin mainly my shoulders, chest and neck...and i have to say its the most painful thing ever! My skin also thickend and plus im on steroids still so i have this massive moon face along with my thick skin!...it doesnt really look thick...just red and patchy and painful...i also feel solid as a rock lol...if anyone else has something like this pleaaaseeeeee write an email to me..im trying to find anyone that is going through gvhd.
I am soooo there. I developed my gvhd at about the same time you did. I am on the steroids. My skin gets these rough patches. They dont really hurt, but they itch like crazy. It kind of resembles eczema. And I also keep having skin fungal infections from the steroids.
I am only one year out though, not 2. My docs are considering putting me back on the immunosuppresion to get the steroids down because I am having a lot of issues with the steroids. We also think that I may have stomach gvhd, but I am avoiding the endoscopy. The last time they stuck a tube in me like that was for a bronoscopy and it was not pleasant. I have a tolerance to the versed, so I remember about the whole thing.
Feel free to email me. THere is a link from my profile and then I will give you my personal email, I just dont want to post it on a public board.  (+ info)

What is the intermediate host or life cycle of periodontal disease?

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This question pertains mostly to protozoa, nematode or helminth parasites.
20 years****  (+ info)

what facility best treats acute graft verses host after bone marrow transplant?

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this acute graft verses host disease and they said they have done all they could do, this at a medical university hospital in the midwest, he is still in the hospital, can't he be sent somewhere that does more with this???
We don't even know what country in the world you are asking about.
In the U.S. - any university medical center that does bone marrow transplantation knows how to treat this.
There are good - and not so good - doctors at every university.
I would pick the closest one and ask around for the best doctor.
Nurses usually know.
Why aren't you using the medical center that did the bone marrow transplant?  (+ info)

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