Immune-Mediated Autonomic Neuropathies following Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Autonomic dysfunction (AD) after allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) is a rare occurrence and likely immune-mediated in etiology. There is limited literature on this topic and hence, we wish to briefly describe management of two cases at our institution and their outcomes.

We retrospectively identified two patients with immune-mediated AD after SCT from our database. Immune-mediated AD was defined as AD secondary to an immune-mediated etiology without an alternative cause and responding to immunosuppression.

The first case is of a 32-year-old man with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who underwent double umbilical cord allogeneic SCT. The second patient was a 51-year-old woman with secondary AML who underwent matched-related donor allogeneic SCT. Both underwent an extensive work-up for an underlying etiology prior to treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).

AD after SCT is a rare yet significant clinical entity. A work-up of underlying etiology should be performed. IVIG is a treatment option for these patients.