Bone marrow transplantation using fractioned total body irradiation: Absence of pulmonary toxicity despite cytomegalovirus viraemia.

Bone marrow transplantation was performed on a 22-year-old male with acute myeloid leukaemia in early relapse. The donor was his HLA-identical, but ABO-incompatible, brother. Total body irradiation (TBI) was given in six daily doses of 2GY rather than as the usual single dose of 10GY. After transplantation, cytomegalovirus viraemia occurred, but the patient did not develop pneumonia despite the reported high association of these events. Four hundred days after transplantation, the patient was fit and active with no haematological abnormalities. The use of fractionated TBI may be associated with a lower incidence of respiratory complications than standard single-dose TBI.