Spontaneous Fertility in a Male Thalassemic Patient after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Abstract

Patients with thalassemia major who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation are at increased risk of gonadal insufficiency and reduced fertility due to the toxicity of both the transfusional iron overload and the gonadotoxic effects of drugs used in the conditioning regimen. We present a case of an ex-thalassemic patient with spontaneous recovery of spermatogenesis that fathered a healthy, term male neonate. Maternal hemoglobin electrophoresis was within normal limits. At the age of 9.5 years the patient underwent hematopoietic cell transplantation. The conditioning therapy included busulfan (16 mg/kg) and cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg). No irradiation was administered. Thirty-two days after the hematopoietic cell transplantation the patient developed acute graft-versus-host disease needing long-term treatment with methylprednisolone, cyclosporine and immunoglobulin. Although consecutive semen analyses after the hematopoietic cell transplantation revealed azoospermia, the last semen analysis before conception, at the age of 33 years, was improved and normal follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (Te) levels were detected. The current pregnancy was the result of physical conception. In this case, it seems that thalassemia major along with the respective treatment prior to- and posthematopoietic cell transplantation did not irreparably impair spermatogenesis, probably due to the pre-pubertal time frame they were implemented.