Treatment of Epstein–Barr virus associated central nervous system diseases after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with intrathecal donor lymphocyte infusion

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is an effective measure for the treatment of hematological disease. With the progress and widespread use of allo-HSCT, Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) related central nervous system (CNS) diseases have gotten more and more attention because of its poor prognosis and overall survival. Since currently there is no standard treatment for patients with EBV-associated CNS diseases and reported therapies are heterogeneous with mixed results, we attempted to develop a novel therapeutic method. We applied a regimen of intrathecal donor lymphocyte infusion (IDLI) in three patients with EBV-associated CNS diseases after allo-HSCT in addition to immunosuppressants reduction and combined antiviral therapy. All of three patients were responsive to this therapy: all clinical symptoms and EBV load in CSF were resolved 10, 17, and 12 days after initial IDLI, respectively, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that lesions of case 1 and 2 disappeared 15 and 19 days after initial IDLI, respectively. Even more appealing, there were no acute or chronic adverse reactions during the infusion and up to 23 months of follow-up. In conclusion, IDLI seems to be an effective and safe method for EBV-associated CNS diseases in allo-HSCT recipients. We recommend this treatment modality for further investigation.