Analysis of risk factors for hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients

Purpose: Hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) represents a serious complication following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Our study aimed to investigate important risk factors of SOS in a pediatric population.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 105 children, adolescents and young adults who underwent allogeneic HSCT at our pediatric HSCT center in Jena. The observation period was 12 years and SOS was defined by the pediatric criteria of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT).

Results: 15 out of all 105 patients developed SOS (14.3%). The median time from HSCT to SOS diagnosis was 12 days. The mortality rate of SOS was 20.0%. In univariate analyses, we identified the significant risk factors of patient age < 1 year [odds ratio (OR) = 7.25, p  = 0.037], prior treatment with gemtuzumab ozogamicin (OR = 11.00, p  = 0.020), high pretransplant ferritin levels above 1500 ng/mL (OR = 4.00, p  = 0.033), 2000 ng/mL (OR = 4.69, p  = 0.016), and 2400 ng/mL (OR = 5.29, p  = 0.005) as well as international normalized ratio (INR) ≥ 1.3 (OR = 5.91, p  = 0.009). The following risk factors could be confirmed in multivariate analysis: treatment with gemtuzumab ozogamicin (OR = 9.24, p  = 0.048), ferritin > 2400 ng/mL (OR = 5.74, p  = 0.023), and INR ≥ 1.3 (OR = 8.02, p  = 0.007). Conclusion: Our study confirms several risk factors from the current literature. Additionally, this is the first report on the risk factor of high pretransplant INR.