Bone Marrow Failure due to Aplastic Anemia, Associated With Serous Fat Atrophy, and Treated With Allogeneic, Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation: A Case Report

Abstract

We describe the case of a 27‐year‐old male, previously healthy though with a social history notable for recreational cocaine use, who developed bone marrow failure due to aplastic anemia (AA) with associated serous fat atrophy (SFA). After the SFA was corrected with nutritional supplementation, the patient underwent successful allogeneic, haploidentical stem cell transplantation with a regimen designed to treat AA. To our knowledge, this is the first case of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) performed following correction of SFA. Herein we propose our novel hypothesis that SFA, once resolved, is not a contraindication to stem cell transplantation, which we believe adds valuable insight toward an improved understanding of nutrition’s role in HSCT. Additionally, the AA is thought to be toxin‐induced and specifically levamisole‐mediated after exposure to levamisole‐adulterated cocaine. We highlight potential connections between levamisole, AA, and SFA and call for further efforts to understand these relationships—especially as the use of levamisole as a cocaine adulterant continues to rise across the globe.