In allogenic transplantation the donor is usually HLA-matched sibling. The pre-transplant program consists of high doses of chemotherapy with or without total body irradiation.

Autologous bone marrow transplantation involves the use of high doses of chemotherapy, followed by the re-infusion of patient's own bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells previously harvested.

Side effects of bone marrow transplantation include:

1.Toxicity of the conditioning regimen. This includes myelosuppression and severe stomatitis. Other acute toxicities include veno-occlusive disease of the liver, myocarditis, interstitial pneumonitis, and leucoencephalopathy. Delayed side effects include cytopenia, cataracts, gonadal failure in both sexes, impaired cardiac and pulmonary function.

2. Infection in the immediate post-transplant period.

3. Acute graft versus disease (GVH) applies only to allogenic transplantation. This occurs shortly after transplantation, usually presents with a rash, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and liver dysfunction. This can be controlled with prednisolone and cyclosporin.  Chronic GVH disease is seen in 30-50% of patients. This usually occurs after 3 to 15 months. It has many of the features of a collagen disease like scleroderma-like skin lesions, keratoconjunctivitis, arthralgia, stomatitis, chronic liver disease, general wasting, and pulmonary insufficiency due to obliterative bronchiolitis. Treatment is with prednisolone and cyclosporin.

many medical, health and lifestyle topics.