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Updated: May 10, 2026
Stem Cell Transplantation Strategies for the Restoration of Cognitive Dysfunction Caused by Cranial Radiotherapy
Published on: October 18, 2011
Successful treatment of central nervous system PTLD with rituximab and cranial radiotherapy
Valerie Said-Conti1, Persis J Amrolia, Mark N Gaze
1Department of Paediatric Nephrology, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK. valerie.said@gov.mt
Background:
Primary central nervous system (PCNS) post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is a rare complication of solid organ transplantation and is typically an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced B-cell CD20+ lymphoma. The modalities of treatment include reduction in immunosuppression, cranial radiotherapy (CRT), intravenous and intrathecal rituximab when CD20 is expressed on B-lymphocytes and PTLD cells, and chemotherapy.
Case-Diagnosis/Treatment:
We report the successful treatment of EBV-driven PCNS PTLD by reduction in immunosuppression (RI), CRT, and intravenous rituximab. Our patient was an 11-year-old boy with a living-related renal transplant for end-stage renal failure (ESRF) secondary to posterior urethral valves (PUV) and bilateral renal dysplasia (BRD) and on triple immunosuppression with prednisolone, tacrolimus, and azathioprine who had a rising EBV load, which was managed with reduction in tacrolimus dose, withdrawal of azathioprine, and introduction of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).
Conclusions:
The patient presented 7 years post-transplant with a seizure and abnormal neurology secondary to polymorphous hyperplastic lesions in the brain, which responded to rituximab and CRT.
