Use of the National Institutes of Health Consensus Guidelines Improves the Diagnostic Sensitivity of Gastrointestinal Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Context.— Graft-versus-host disease of the gastrointestinal tract is a common complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplant associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Accurate diagnosis can be difficult and is a truly clinicopathologic endeavor. Objectives.— To assess the diagnostic sensitivity of gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease using the 2015 National Institutes of Health (NIH) histology consensus guidelines and to analyze histologic findings that support the guidelines. Design.— Patients with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants were identified via a retrospective search of our electronic medical records from January 1, 2005, to January 1, 2011. Endoscopies with available histology were reviewed by 2 pathologists using the 2015 NIH guidelines. The clinical diagnosis was used as the gold standard. A nontransplant set of endoscopic biopsies was used as a control. Results.— Of the 250 total endoscopies, 217 (87%) had a clinical diagnosis of gastrointestinal graft-versus-...