Massive pericardial effusion complicating the course of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

The pathogenesis and clinical features of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) resemble those of several autoimmune diseases, as evidenced by frequent dermal, hepatic, occular, oral, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and neuromuscular involvement. Serosal involvement, however, has only rarely been reported and most of the existing accounts are historical. We describe a boy transplanted in third CR of CALLA-positive ALL from his HLA-identical sister who developed cGVHD, which was complicated by a huge pericardial effusion as a part of severe polyserositis including pleural effusion, ascites, and polyarthritis. The patient shared the HLA antigens HLA-A2, B51, and DQW6 which are associated with autoimmune diseases.