Bone marrow transplantation in an HIV positive thalassemic child following therapy with azidothymidine

The authors report their experience on allogeneic bone marrow transplant in an HIV seropositive thalassemic child. Before transplant a treatment with Azidothymidine was performed with the aim of reducing the viral load. Engraftment took place but, later, an explosive upsurge of viral disease occurred with encephalitis, positivation of the P24 antigen, proliferation of opportunistic infections and an increase of the IgG level. Furthermore the failure of CD4+ cell recovery was also observed. This case underlines that bone marrow transplantation can have a successful engraftment in HIV seropositive patients, but this doesn't modify the course of the infection.