Conclusion
An increased prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed in our
pediatric post-transplant population, with older children at highest
risk. In addition, patients without total body irradiation as part of
the conditioning regimen experienced more weight gain than patients who
received total body irradiation. Due to the well-documented negative
effects of excess adiposity on health, it is crucial to optimize body
composition during the pre-treatment, treatment, and post- treatment
periods to mitigate the risk of catastrophic adverse events later in
life. Additional studies characterizing the interaction between body
composition and hematopoietic cell transplant outcomes are warranted.
Greater insight into this field will undoubtedly provide guidance on the
identification of at-risk populations and the development of
interventions to treat and prevent obesity.