A new mom’s illness led to the first diagnosis of a rare condition after childbirth Annalisa Merelli By Annalisa MerelliAug. 16, 2023

A new mom’s illness led to the first diagnosis of a rare condition after childbirth Annalisa Merelli By Annalisa MerelliAug. 16, 2023 https://www.statnews.com/2023/08/16/graft-versus-host-disease-fetal-cells-childbirth/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=270590419&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-855atMMLohk04dOerU7sx_jotOu6uXuKh5WLnPqM6gN5hJtswflAoW-ODWBtu3m8bNxSF_CDLRXoLc6pQL_sRgbSfJBA&utm_content=270590417&utm_source=hs_email Soon after childbirth, a rare condition appeared Do you love a medical mystery? Especially one with a happy ending? STAT’s Annalisa Merelli brings us a NEJM case study describing a woman who became seriously ill after giving birth to twins. She’d hemorrhaged during childbirth, so she’d received a blood transfusion. Twelve days after delivery, she had a high fever and was treated with antibiotics. No better, she was admitted to the hospital with falling levels of red and white blood cells as well as platelets, plus a full-body rash, mouth and vaginal sores, and severe diarrhea. Tests ruled out infections and rheumatologic disease. What if her transfusion sparked graft-versus-host disease, her medical team asked. They were close. That condition is more common after bone marrow or stem-cell transplants, in which the donor’s T cells attack the recipient’s body. But tests revealed the source of third-party DNA wasn’t the blood donor, but (spoiler alert) her twins. Read more for the solution and lessons learned. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2307669?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=270590419&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-819reo1fF4Wu1St6-5tycl0BjNhRUQZe1p_5IZhCkGcouAVyCj_r6XkNiICp6Eblg7T-7AJGSGdc0DsZcKKQvR8qxSgA&utm_content=270590417&utm_source=hs_email