Case report: An unusual presentation of oral acute graft-versus-host-disease in a haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient

Abstract

Oral acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a significant sequelae of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Presently, transplant physicians have to diagnose GVHD based on clinical judgment by interpreting available clinical and relevant laboratory findings. As such, characterization of diagnostic and distinctive clinical signs and symptoms of GVHD is essential for diagnosis and grading. The oral features of aGVHD have been reported infrequently and remain ill defined, unlike in oral chronic GVHD. The report describes an atypical and painful presentation of oral aGVHD in a 15-year-old boy, 16 days after haploidentical HSCT, who presented with swollen lips, herpetiform ulcerations, and erythematous fungiform papilla.