Article Text
PDF
Abstract
Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a potentially life-threatening and commonly encountered event of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Here, we present a young adult male with primary refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma who received a transplant and developed cutaneous GvHD after donor lymphocyte infusion, which was managed with cyclosporine and steroids. However, while the patient was under immunosuppressive treatment, diffuse confluent whitish patches on the patient’s tongue were observed. A biopsy of the tongue lesions revealed lichenoid, hyperkeratotic tissue changes and intraepithelial T-cell infiltration consistent with chronic GvHD. He was treated with mycophenolate mofetil for 6 months with minimal improvement. Janus-associated kinase inhibitor (ruxolitinib) treatment was commenced, with complete resolution of the tongue lesions and treatment discontinuation 5 months later. Currently, 5 years after allogeneic transplantation, he is in remission and does not need immunosuppressive therapy.
- Dermatology
- Haematology (incl blood transfusion)
- Mouth
- Transplantation
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors ML and AS were responsible for the clinical management of the patient. SL and KG contributed to the clinical diagnosis of tongue GvHD. All authors contributed to the conceptualisation, writing and reviewing of the manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Request Permissions
If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.