The effect of bone marrow transplantation on severe mental illness: a case series

There is increasing evidence to suggest that inflammation and the immune system may play a key role in the development of severe mental illness, including depression and psychosis. Recent anecdotal evidence has suggested that a man with schizophrenia experienced a dramatic improvement in his psychiatric symptoms after having a bone marrow transplant for an unrelated medical problem. However, it is unknown how common it is for people with severe mental illness to also undergo bone marrow transplantation and what effect this may have on their mental health. We therefore plan to use the CRIS database to identify the number of cases with confirmed diagnoses of severe mental illness who have subsequently undergone bone marrow transplantation. We will then review the case-notes of these cases to determine how the transplant has affected their mental health.