Longitudinal Pulmonary Chronic Graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) Assessment in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) Patients

In patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), pulmonary complications include both infectious and non-infectious conditions. Among these, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome(BOS) represents a severe manifestation of pulmonary graft-versus-host disease. BOS typically develops within two years after HSCT, with a median time to diagnosis ranging from 6 months to 1 year. However, it may occur at any time between 50 days and 10 years post-transplantation. During the early course of the disease, many patients are asymptomatic; progressive dyspnea and cough subsequently develop, usually over weeks to months. Potential risk factors include chronic graft-versus-host disease, older age, impaired pre-transplant pulmonary function, and early respiratory infections.

The current diagnostic criteria for BOS are still based on the recommendations of the 2014 National Institutes of Health Consensus on chronic graft-versus-host disease. Treatment for BOS remains complex and is supported by limited evidence. In Taiwan, local data on pulmonary complications-particularly BOS-remain insufficient.

We aim to establish a prospective cohort study enrolling approximately 600 participants to analyze the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, pulmonary function changes (including impulse oscillometry), imaging findings, and biomarker alterations associated with pulmonary graft-versus-host disease in Taiwanese HSCT recipients.