Abstract

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) can present as early as days to as late as several decades after transplantation. This study, however, tries to research PTLD characteristics including histopathological and clinical features, predictors and prognosis of the disease when occurring within the first month post-transplantation. We conducted a comprehensive search for the available data using the Pubmed and Google scholar search engines for reports indicating presentation time in PTLD patients. Data from 25 previously published studies were included in the analysis. Finally, we found 355 recipients of organs presenting with "ultra-early onset PTLD." Transplant recipients with ultra-early onset PTLD were significantly more likely to have kidney allografts (P = 0.032). Transplant recipients with ultra-early onset PTLD were comparable to their counterparts in the control group in their demographics, histopathological findings and survival. Patients with ultra-early onset PTLD were significantly more likely to receive induction therapy (100 vs. 49, respectively; P = 0.013). Pancreas transplant recipients were at a significantly higher risk for development of ultra-early onset PTLD (20 vs. 1, respectively; P <0.001). Our findings emphasize the importance of immunosuppression potency as well as the type of allograft transplanted on the incidence of PTLD in the early stages after transplantation. However, we found no histopathological or outcome disparities for patients with ultra-early PTLD compared with controls. Further prospective studies with more comparable approaches to the patients are needed to confirm our findings.