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BackgroundA growing evidence base supports the use of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) for treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), but it has not yet been integrated into most national clinical guidelines. The objective of this study was to assess efficacy and safety when aHSCT is implemented in routine healthcare.MethodsWe assessed 231 patients and the final analysis included 174 RRMS patients who were treated with aHSCT in Sweden before 1 January 2020. Efficacy was evaluated by performing a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the Swedish MS registry. Procedure-related safety was assessed by analysing data from electronic patient records covering a period of 100 days following aHSCT.ResultsWith a median follow-up time of 5.5 (IQR: 3.4–7.5) years, the Kaplan-Meier estimate for no evidence of disease activity was 73% (95% CI 66% to 81%) at 5 years and 65% (95% CI 57% to 75%) at 10 years. Out of the 149 patients with baseline disability, 80 (54%) improved, 55 (37%) were stable and 14 (9%) deteriorated. The mean number of adverse events per patient was 1.7 (±SD: 1.5) for grade 3 events and 0.06 (±SD: 0.3) for grade 4 events. Febrile neutropenia was the most common adverse event, affecting 68% of patients. There was no treatment-related mortality.ConclusionsTreatment with aHSCT for RRMS is associated with freedom from disease activity in a majority of patients, with acceptable adverse events. This procedure should be considered a standard of care for patients with highly active RRMS.

In this single-center study, we retrospectively analyzed incidence and risk factors for hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) in 249 consecutive patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation between January 1990 and June 1995. Twenty-four of the 249 transplanted patients developed VOD. The probabilities of developing VOD were 17% among women and 7% in men (P = .01). In women treated with norethisterone, the incidence was 27% compared with 3% in women without this treatment (P = .007). One-year survival rates were 17% and 73% in patients with (n = 24) or without VOD (n = 225), respectively. The use of heparin prophylaxis (100 IE/kg/24 hours for 1 month) did not alter the incidence or 1-year mortality of VOD. In multivariate analysis, the following risk factors were significant: norethisterone treatment (P < .001), bilirubin >26 µmol/L before bone marrow transplantation (BMT) (P = .002), one HLA-antigen mismatch (P = .003), previous abdominal irradiation (P = .02), and conditioning with busulphan (P = .02). Our conclusion is that norethisterone treatment should not be used in patients undergoing BMT and heparin prophylaxis did not affect the incidence or mortality of VOD.