Second transplant with two unrelated cord blood units for early graft failure after cord blood transplantation for thalassemia

Early GF is a frequent complication following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients with thalassemia. We report the outcome of double-unit CBT in three patients who developed early GF after CBT. The initial conditioning regimen consisted of i.v. Bu 14 mg/kg (day -9 to -6), i.v. Cy 200 mg/kg (day -5 to -2) and ATG at 120 mg/kg (day -4 to -1). They received GVHD prophylaxis with cyclosporine-A from day -3 and a short course of methylprednisolone (1 mg/kg i.v., every 12 h on days 5-19 with a taper, thereafter 25% decrease every other day). The interval between two transplants was seven and 10 months. The retransplant recipients were preconditioned with i.v. Bu 14 mg/kg (day -7 to -4), i.v. Cy 120 mg/kg (day -3 to -2) and ATG at 150 mg/kg (day -5 to -1 and +1 to +5). GVHD prophylaxis regimen was the same as the first transplant. Neutrophil engraftment were observed in all patients between day +15 and +26. All are alive, between nine and 11 months after retransplant. Our group reported successful utilization of double umblical cord blood grafts in thalassemia patients with early GF.