Imaging in Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a technique used in the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia, multiple myeloma, immune deficiency disorders, and certain solid tumors such as breast and ovarian carcinoma. It is a salvage technique that permits high-dose, myelosuppressive chemotherapy to be given, achieving greater response rates to therapy. After giving high-dose therapy, treating the disease, and ablating the marrow, BMT salvage is accomplished by infusing the patient with new marrow. New marrow obtained from HLA-matched relatives or unrelated donors is an allogeneic transplant; marrow from an identical twin is a syngeneic transplant. If the marrow is successfully incorporated into the patient, the transplant is termed engrafted. If the genetic match of an allogeneic transplant is less than ideal, the infused marrow may produce an immune response against the tissue of the host, the so-called graft-vs-host reaction. Alternatively, the patient’s immune system may destroy the new marrow, a process termed graft rejection.