Endocrine complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation during childhood and adolescence

Long-term survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) during childhood and adolescence are at risk of developing endocrine complications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term endocrine complications and their associated risk factors among such patients. We reviewed the data from 111 patients (59 males and 52 females) who underwent HSCT at the mean age of 8.3+/-4.1 yr. Thirty patients (27.0%) had growth impairment, and seven (21.2%) out of 33 patients who attained final height reached final height below 2 standard deviation (SD). The final height SD score of the patients conditioned with total body irradiation (TBI) was significantly lower than that of the patients conditioned without TBI (-1.18+/-1.14 vs. -0.19+/-0.78, P=0.011). Thirteen patients (11.7%) developed hypothyroidism (11 subclinical, 2 central) 3.8+/-1.8 (range 1.6-6.2) yr after HSCT. Nineteen (65.5%) out of 29 females had evidence of gonadal dysfunction, and 18 (64.3%) out of 28 males had evidence of gonadal dysfunction. The risk for gonadal dysfunction was significantly higher in females conditioned with busulfan/cyclophosphamide (P=0.003). These results suggest that the majority of patients treated with HSCT during childhood and adolescence have one or more endocrine complications. Therefore, multiple endocrine functions should be monitored periodically after HSCT until they reach adult age.