Risk Factor of Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease: Analysis of Clinical Data of 5024 Patients Extracted from the Database of the Japan Marrow Donor Program.

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is one of the most serious complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Various factors have been identified as increasing the risk of hepatic VOD, but few of them have been associated with a significantly increased risk. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 5024 transplant recipients (median age28, range 0–68) which extracted from the Japan Marrow Donar Program. The diagnosis of VOD was made according to the McDonald’s criteria, and 324 out of 4833 patients (6.7%) were eventually diagnosed with VOD. The possible risk factors based on the previous studies were counted on an initial univariate analysis, and cumulated significant factors were further analyzed for their potential value for VOD development in multivariate analysis. Variables correlated with an increased risk of VOD were: time of transplant >2 times (relative risk (RR) 2.7; p=0.006), pretransplant disease status (RR 2.3; p=0.000), prior liver disease (RR 2.1; p=0.017), ABO blood type mismatch (RR1.7; p=0.000). In patients receiving either busulfan or melphalan for conditioning increased VOD risk (RR 1.5 and 1.8; p=0.007 and 0.002, respectively). In our multivariate analysis, stem cell source, and prophylactic use of heparin and Ursodiol had no significant effect on VOD development. This analysis might contribute to revise the previously reported risk factors for VOD and the data could be used to know which patients might be suitable subjects for new trials for VOD prevention.