Diminishing morbidity and mortality of bone marrow transplantation

The reasons for the operational failure of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) are familiar and varied. They are the following: nonmarrow toxicity of the preparative regimen, marrow toxicity of the preparative regimen, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), opportunistic infections, especially viral infections and recurrence of hematologic malignancy in the case of transplants for leukemia. This review examines operational failure of BMT and presents measures for its prevention.