Neutrophil engraftment was defined as achieving an ANC of 0.5 × 109/L or greater for three consecutive days, and platelet recovery was defined as achieving a platelet count of 20 × 109/L or greater, without platelet transfusions, for seven days. A Hb level of at least 80 g/L without transfusion support is the accepted threshold for red cell engraftment [12 (link)]. Full donor chimerism was defined as ≥95 % leukocytes of donor origin in peripheral blood or marrow samples, measured according to our previous report. [14 (link)] Mixed chimerism was defined as more than 5 % but less than 95 % leukocytes of donor origin.
Primary GF included GR and PGF. As described in the introduction, GR is the failure to engraft neutrophils (ANC ≤0.5 × 109/L) by day +28 for three consecutive days and the absence of donor hematopoiesis. Because delayed red cell engraftment may happen for many months post-transplant and is more difficult to evaluate in an unarguable manner, in the present study, primary PGF was defined as the presence of three cytopenic counts (ANC ≤0.5 × 109/L, platelet ≤20 × 109/L, or hemoglobin (Hb) ≤80 g/L) beyond day +28 with a transfusion requirement associated with hypoplastic-aplastic BM, in the presence of complete donor chimerism. The patients with evidence of severe GVHD or hematologic relapse were excluded [14 (link)].
The diagnosis and grading of acute and chronic GVHD was assigned by the transplant center using standard criteria [42 (link), 43 (link)]. Transplant-related mortality (TRM), relapse, DFS, and overall survival (OS) was defined according to our previous studies [2 (link), 32 (link), 34 (link)].
Primary GF included GR and PGF. As described in the introduction, GR is the failure to engraft neutrophils (ANC ≤0.5 × 109/L) by day +28 for three consecutive days and the absence of donor hematopoiesis. Because delayed red cell engraftment may happen for many months post-transplant and is more difficult to evaluate in an unarguable manner, in the present study, primary PGF was defined as the presence of three cytopenic counts (ANC ≤0.5 × 109/L, platelet ≤20 × 109/L, or hemoglobin (Hb) ≤80 g/L) beyond day +28 with a transfusion requirement associated with hypoplastic-aplastic BM, in the presence of complete donor chimerism. The patients with evidence of severe GVHD or hematologic relapse were excluded [14 (link)].
The diagnosis and grading of acute and chronic GVHD was assigned by the transplant center using standard criteria [42 (link), 43 (link)]. Transplant-related mortality (TRM), relapse, DFS, and overall survival (OS) was defined according to our previous studies [2 (link), 32 (link), 34 (link)].