Citations

AbstractIntroductionThe field of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo‐HCT) began in the 1950s, and despite a seven decade history of remarkable clinical advances, graft‐versus‐host‐disease (GVHD) remains the greatest obstacle in its success due to considerable morbidity and mortality. Graft‐versus‐host disease is the second leading cause of transplantation‐related mortality (TRM) after relapse of primary disease. There are two main types of GVHD—acute and chronic—differing in the pathogenesis, time of onset, and clinical presentation.ObjectiveThis review provides a comprehensive overview of chronic GVHD pathophysiology and current management paradigms, as well as consideration of promising novel therapies.ConclusionChronic GVHD is a serious disease which may be active for years, or even decades, requiring potentially years of immunosuppressive therapies and placing patients at risk for a number of late complications. While the oral cavity has long been recognized to be a prominent target of GVHD, and in particular, chronic GVHD, it must be recognized and appreciated that it is a complex systemic disease with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations.

The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WSPCHS) is the largest professional organization in the world dedicated to pediatric and congenital heart surgery. The purpose of this article is to document the first decade of the history of WSPCHS from its formation in 2006, to summarize the current status of WSPCHS, and to consider the future of WSPCHS. The WSPCHS was incorporated in Canada on April 7, 2011, with a head office in Montreal, Canada. The vision of the WSPCHS is that every child born anywhere in the world with a congenital heart defect should have access to appropriate medical and surgical care. The mission of the WSPCHS is to promote the highest quality comprehensive cardiac care to all patients with congenital heart disease, from the fetus to the adult, regardless of the patient’s economic means, with an emphasis on excellence in teaching, research, and community service.

Key Points Compared with parous female sibling donors, male URDs confer more aGVHD in all patients and more cGVHD in females. There was no difference in survival, relapse, or transplant mortality between recipients of parous female sibling or male URD grafts.