In our study, 15 out of 105 patients developed SOS. Consequently, the incidence of SOS was 14.3%. In a previous study, which compared different incidence rates of SOS across several studies an overall mean incidence of 13.7% was reported (Coppell et al. 2010). This demonstrates that our result is consistent with previous data. In our study population, the median time of SOS onset was 12 days after HSCT, which corresponds to the literature. Yakushijin et al. (2016) retrospectively analyzed 4290 patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT. In that study, the median time of SOS diagnosis was also 12 days post-HSCT (Yakushijin et al. 2016). The frequencies of mild, moderate and severe SOS have been variously reported. From all patients with SOS, we observed a relative distribution of 20.0% mild, 26.7% moderate and 53.3% severe disease courses. In a study published by Cheuk et al. (2007), 47.4% had mild SOS, 21.1% had moderate SOS and 31.6% had severe SOS. However, Maximova et al. (2014) reported a rate of 12.0% mild, 12.0% moderate and 76.0% severe courses of SOS. In all cases, the same criteria for severity grading based on McDonald et al. (1993) were used. Furthermore, all studies only included pediatric patients. This variation can be explained by a different interpretation of the severity grading criteria or small case numbers. In the present study, the mortality rate from SOS was only 20.0%, which is a lower rate, especially compared to previous studies (Barker et al. 2003; Cheuk et al. 2007; Jones et al. 1987; McDonald et al. 1993). The lower mortality rates in recent studies are probably due to the early treatment with defibrotide (Corbacioglu et al. 2016; Faraci et al. 2019; Mohty et al. 2020; Richardson et al. 2017).
The diagnosis of SOS was based on the modified pediatric Seattle criteria according to Corbacioglu et al. (2012). In recent years, new diagnostic criteria have been published (Cairo et al. 2020; Corbacioglu et al. 2018; Mohty et al. 2016). Additionally, new severity criteria were proposed. In our study, we decided not to use these new criteria because nearly all transplantations had been performed before the new pediatric EBMT criteria were published (Corbacioglu et al. 2018). By using the new EBMT criteria, the number of diagnosed SOS cases would be probably higher, especially due to no limitation for the time of SOS onset (Kammersgaard et al. 2019). Therefore, we preferred a consistent use of the modified pediatric Seattle criteria.
Previous publications have already shown significant associations between the transplantation-related factors of conditioning regimen based on busulfan or total body irradiation and the occurrence of SOS (Barker et al. 2003; Carreras et al. 1998; Cheuk et al. 2007; Yakushijin et al. 2016). On the contrary, these reported risk factors were not found to be significant in our study. One reason for this result can be the limited number of analyzed patients. Nevertheless, other studies also could not find a significant correlation (Kami et al. 1997; Maximova et al. 2014).
A significant relationship between an increased risk of SOS and donor mismatch has already been reported (Hasegawa et al. 1998). We could not confirm this finding in our patient population. Other transplantation-related factors like stem cell source, donor age and donor sex were not significantly associated with the incidence of SOS either. Carreras et al. (2011) showed a significantly higher rate of SOS in transplantations with bone marrow stem cells compared to transplantations with peripheral blood stem cells. A few other analyses could not find a significant correlation between the stem cell source and the development of SOS (Cheuk et al. 2007; Faraci et al. 2019; Soyer et al. 2020; Strouse et al. 2018). In future trials, this potential risk factor should be further explored.
With regards to younger patients, we found that an age < 1 year had a significant impact on the development of SOS in the univariate analysis (p = 0.037). Full hepatic maturation takes up to 2 years after birth (Beath 2003). This demonstrates that infants have a reduced hepatic detoxification function, which consequently makes them particularly vulnerable to the conditioning regimen. Thus, higher rates of SOS could be explained. Moreover, pediatric diseases that are predisposing to SOS are found more often in the first years of life (Cesaro et al. 2005). This especially applies to neuroblastoma. Our findings concur with the published literature although different cutoffs for age were proposed (Cesaro et al. 2005; Cheuk et al. 2007; Faraci et al. 2019).
In our study, we could not find a significant correlation between female sex and the incidence of SOS. According to our results, this factor was not listed in some detailed reviews (Cairo et al. 2020; Dalle and Giralt 2016). However, other studies identified female sex as a significant risk factor (Faraci et al. 2019; Hägglund et al. 1998). This aspect should be further investigated in future trials.
Previous reports have already highlighted the treatment with gemtuzumab ozogamicin as a risk factor for SOS incidence (McDonald 2002; Richardson and Corbacioglu 2020; Wadleigh et al. 2003). It is assumed that gemtuzumab ozogamicin targets CD33 + cells in the hepatic sinusoids, such as Kupffer cells, stellate cells and endothelial cells (Rajvanshi et al. 2002). Our study confirms the significant risk factor of prior treatment with gemtuzumab ozogamicin for the pediatric population in univariate analysis (p = 0.020) as well as in multivariate analysis (p = 0.048).
In the literature, some studies showed significant correlations between SOS and elevated values of aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and total bilirubin as well as reduced values of cholinesterase and albumin (Carreras et al. 1998; Hägglund et al. 1998; Hasegawa et al. 1998; Srivastava et al. 2004). These values indicate preexisting liver damage. However, we could not find such significant associations in our patient population. According to the current state of relevant studies, the laboratory parameters of glutamyl transpeptidase, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, C-reactive protein were not significant risk factors (Cairo et al. 2020; Corbacioglu et al. 2019; Dalle and Giralt 2016; Morado et al. 1999). In regard to serum ferritin, we detected significantly higher SOS rates in patients with ferritin > 1500 ng/mL, > 2000 ng/mL and > 2400 ng/mL. However, > 2400 ng/mL was the optimal cutoff with p = 0.005 in univariate analysis and p = 0.023 in multivariate analysis. High serum ferritin indicates iron overload, which is considered to be a reason for liver dysfunction (McKay et al. 1996; Miceli et al. 2006). Iron induces the development of oxygen free radicals that lead to an injury of hepatic tissue (Ramm and Ruddell 2005). Additionally, high serum ferritin can be explained by the response to inflammation through its role as an acute-phase protein (Armand et al. 2012). It can be suggested that these factors predispose to SOS. Our findings accord with other studies (Maradei et al. 2009; Maximova et al. 2014; Morado et al. 1999).
In our study, we report for the first time that high pretransplant INR was significantly associated with the occurrence of SOS. The cutoff of ≥ 1.3 was significant in univariate analysis (p = 0.009) as well as in multivariate analysis (p = 0.007). Higher INR values indicate increased bleeding tendency (Kirkwood 1983). Although SOS is characterized by downstream embolization and sinusoidal obstruction, there is an initial hemorrhage of erythrocytes, leukocytes and cellular debris into the spaces of Disse (Carreras and Diaz-Ricart 2011; Mohty et al. 2015). Therfore, an increased bleeding tendency, measured by high INR, could lead to a higher risk of SOS. Moreover, INR is affected by vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors (Tripodi et al. 1995). High INR can be caused by a lack of coagulation factors, which is linked with liver dysfunction. This is another reason why high INR might be correlated to SOS.
Our study is limited by the relatively small number of patients, which leads to reduced statistical power. However, the rather small number of patients is quite common in single-center studies with only pediatric patients. I addition, our study is a retrospective analysis which is more susceptible to observation and selection biases compared to prospective studies. Nevertheless, the inclusion criteria were clearly defined and consistently used.
In conclusion, our findings confirm the risk factors of young patient age (< 1 year), prior treatment with gemtuzumab ozogamicin and high serum ferritin (> 2400 ng/mL) for the occurrence of hepatic SOS in the pediatric population. Furthermore, the significant association between high pretransplant INR (≥ 1.3) and the development of SOS is reported for the first time. Our findings can contribute to a better risk stratification and a modified screening system after allogeneic HSCT in pediatric patients. Finally, further studies are necessary to validate our findings. This especially applies to the new risk factor of high INR.