Acute Graft versus Host Disease of the Skin
Clinical
- Acute vs. chronic GVHD
- Poor correlation between pathologic features and clinical definition of acute vs. chronic
- Acute GVHD
- Rash develops 2-3 weeks after allogeneic transplant
- Characteristic histologic changes develop 3-6 weeks after transplant
- Primary targets
- Skin 90%
- Liver 40-60%
- GI tract 30-50%
- Early recognition of GVHD and prompt intervention improves outcome
- Advanced GVHD easy to diagnose but mortality can be 50%
