Fatal ongoing human cytomegalovirus reactivation during high-dose melphalan and autologous stem cell transplantation.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) reactivation can cause a wide range of complications in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, ranging from pneumonia to graft failure. Although reactivations are usually seen in the early post-transplant period, ongoing and untreated HCMV reactivation at the time of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell support is an exceedingly rare circumstance whose consequences remain largely unknown. This case report describes a patient who underwent high-dose melphalan and autologous transplantation with unknown active HCMV replication.