Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42655692›Full record

ArticleViruses2026

Bidirectional Temporal Association Between Cytomegalovirus Reactivation and Graft-Versus-Host Disease Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Single-Center Real-World Cohort Study.

Emel İşleyen, Simten Dağdaş, Bircan Kayaaslan, Funda Ceran, Mehmet Sezgin Pepeler, Ayşe Kaya, Gülten Korkmaz, Merve Ecem Erdoğan Yön, Fahir Öztürk, Ahmet Ceylan and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Viruses, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Emel İşleyenDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0002-1424-4706
Simten DağdaşDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0003-0901-2043
Bircan KayaaslanDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0001-5225-8319
Funda CeranDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.
Mehmet Sezgin PepelerDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.
Ayşe KayaDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0002-4759-0066
Gülten KorkmazDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0003-4467-9724
Merve Ecem Erdoğan YönDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.
Fahir ÖztürkDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0003-3836-3985
Ahmet CeylanDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0009-0008-6471-3794
Derya KayardıDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0009-0006-4709-1060
Gülsüm ÖzetDepartment of Hematology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye.ORCID 0000-0003-2658-5978

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are major causes of morbidity and non-relapse mortality following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Although their association has been extensively investigated, the temporal relationship between these complications and their impact on survival remain incompletely understood, particularly in centers where routine letermovir prophylaxis is unavailable and CMV is managed using a pre-emptive treatment strategy. This study evaluated the bidirectional temporal association between CMV reactivation and GVHD using time-dependent analyses and assessed their impact on survival in a real-world allo-HSCT cohort.

methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 100 consecutive adult patients who underwent allo-HSCT for hematologic malignancies between January 2016 and February 2025. CMV surveillance was performed by weekly quantitative CMV-DNA PCR, and reactivation was managed using a standardized pre-emptive treatment strategy. Patients who relapsed or died within the first 100 days after transplantation were excluded. The incidence, temporal sequence, risk factors, and prognostic impact of CMV reactivation and GVHD were evaluated. Overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, while temporal associations were assessed using time-dependent Cox regression analyses.

resultsCMV reactivation occurred in 72 patients (72%), whereas GVHD developed in 51 patients (51%). Among patients who experienced both complications, CMV reactivation preceded GVHD in 32 patients, while GVHD preceded CMV reactivation in 14 patients. Older recipient age (42.3 ± 13.5 vs. 35.4 ± 11.2 years,

conclusionsCMV reactivation was highly prevalent after allo-HSCT and frequently preceded GVHD, supporting a bidirectional temporal relationship between these complications. Older donor age was associated with both CMV reactivation and GVHD. Although survival did not significantly differ according to CMV or GVHD status in this day-100 landmark cohort, clinically important CMV-related complications, including end-organ disease and platelet engraftment failure requiring eltrombopag, remained common. These findings indicate that a standardized pre-emptive strategy did not completely prevent CMV-associated morbidity. Because letermovir was not evaluated in this cohort, any potential benefit of prophylaxis should be interpreted as an inference from external evidence rather than as a direct finding of this study. Prospective multicenter studies incorporating immune reconstitution analyses are warranted.

Indexed as

CytomegalovirusCytomegalovirus InfectionsGraft vs Host DiseaseHematopoietic Stem Cell TransplantationVirus ActivationAdultCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsTransplantation, Homologousallogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantationCMV reactivationcytomegalovirusgraft-versus-host diseaseletermovirpre-emptive therapysurvival

Identifiers

PMID42655692
PMCPMC13517311

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.