Hepatic complications of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Hepatic complications of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation contribute substantially to the overall success of the procedure and represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Early hepatic complications consist of the sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, drug toxicities, infections, and acute graft-versus-host disease, while late hepatic complications consist of chronic graft-versus host disease, chronic viral hepatitis, and iron overload states. Successful management of the hepatic complications of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is dependent on several factors. These include the recognition and elimination of any pre-transplant risk factors for these problems and the development of strategies to evaluate and prevent them in both the early and later post-transplant periods. The aims of the present review are 1) to identify the early and late hepatic complications of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, in the chronological order in which they occur, 2) to characterize the diagnostic procedures used to identify them, and finally 3) to present the current therapeutic approaches used to manage these problems.