Pretransplant Hemoglobin Level and Platelet Count as Prognostic Markers of RBC and Platelet Transfusion Requirement inAutologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Background and Aim: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT)is an effective treatment for hematological and non-haematologicdisorders. Conditioning regimen for HSCT can partially ablate thepatient’s hematopoietic system; therefore, the patients post-HSCT aredependent on transfusion support and receive multiple units of RBC andplatelet until engraftment occurs. Transfusion requirement for patientsreceiving HSCT depends on various factors. The aim of this study was todetermine the relationship between hemoglobin (Hb) level and plateletcount pre-transplantation as an index for predicting the requirement ofRBC and platelet unit after HSCTMethods: We studied 270 patients with hematological malignancies whounderwent autologous HSCT. We measured the Hb level and plateletcount of these patients before HSCT and examined the relationshipbetween these markers with RBC and platelet units that received afterHSCT.Results: The results showed a correlation between Hb level and Plt countbefore HSCT with RBC and random platelet transfusion after HSCT (P=0.01 and 0.05, respectively). Also, the patients with sub-group analysispatients categorized according to the malignancy that there was nosignificant correlation between Hb levels with RBC units that transfused,but the platelet count in Hodgkin s lymphoma patients had the correlationwith received Platelet units after HSCT (P=0.001). According to our datapatients with lower Hb levels and plt count are more susceptible to moretransfusion support.Conclusion: These results suggest that pre-transplant Hb levels andplatelet count may be useful markers for predicting RBC and Platelet unitrequirements after HSCT. Knowledge of cut-off for these parameters canhelp with the better selection of patients, thus reducing the number of transfusions in HSCT patients.

Keywords:

Bone marrow transplantation , Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation , RBC transfusion , Platelet transfusion , Hemoglobin , Platelet count