17 research outputs found
Assessment of humoral immunity to poliomyelitis, tetanus, hepatitis B, measles, rubella, and mumps in children after chemotherapy - Author reply
No full textComments and replay authors to a retrospective study on the persistence of vaccination immunity after chemotherap
Defibrotide for Prophylaxis of Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Subanalysis Data from an Open-Label, Phase III, Randomized Trial.
No full textSubgroups analysis of of patients from a randomized tria
Protective Environment for Hematopoietic Cell Transplant (HSCT) Recipients: The Infectious Diseases Working Party EBMT Analysis of Global Recommendations on Health-Care Facilities
No full textItem does not contain fulltex
A multicenter, multinational, prospective observational registry study of defibrotide in patients diagnosed with severe veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT)
No full textSevere hepatic VOD/SOS is a potentially life-threatening complication of HCT conditioning that may also develop after high-dose chemotherapy. The most severe form of VOD/SOS is often accompanied by multi-organ failure (MOF) and is associated with a mortality rate of >80% when managed with supportive care alone. As part of the marketing authorization in Europe, there was an obligation to set up a disease registry of patients with severe VOD/SOS post-HCT who were treated with defibrotide. The goal of this registry was to collect safety and outcome data and assess patterns of defibrotide utilization in the post-approval setting. This multicenter, multinational, prospective observational study (NCT03032016) was performed by the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT). The study included patients with severe VOD/SOS post-HCT who were treated with defibrotide and enrolled from April 2015 to July 2018. Participating centers were members of the EBMT. Physicians registered patients diagnosed with severe VOD/SOS, as assessed by the investigator using classical/standard criteria (including but not limited to hyperbilirubinemia, hepatomegaly, ascites, and weight gain >5%), who consented to participate in the study. In addition, patients who were prescribed defibrotide for purposes other than the approved indication (eg, VOD/SOS prophylaxis, treatment of non-severe VOD/SOS or thrombotic microangiopathy) and consented to participate were registered and information collected. There were no specific exclusion criteria; however, treating physicians were alerted to contraindications, special warnings, and precautions detailed in the defibrotide summary of product characteristics. After inclusion, patient information was collected from participating centers at 100 days, 6 months, and 12 months post-HCT. The primary objective was to assess the incidence of specific serious adverse events (SAEs) of interest, which were hemorrhage and site of bleeding, hypotension, coagulopathy, allergic or hypersensitivity reactions, injection-site reaction, infection and septicemia, and thromboembolic events. Secondary endpoints included Day 100 survival, and overall rate of VOD/SOS (and MOF, if present) resolution (based on standard criteria). Summary statistics were calculated for baseline data and safety variables; outcome analyses are descriptive. Here we report an analysis of data with a cutoff of June 18, 2019. Database lock is planned for October 2019, and the presentation will be updated to include the final data. A total of 61 patients with severe VOD/SOS were included; MOF was diagnosed at registration in 34 (56%) patients. The median age of patients with severe VOD/SOS was 14.4 (range: 0-68) years, 34 (56%) aged <18 years and 27 (44%) aged ≥18 years. A total of 54 (89%) patients received allogeneic HCT. Primary diseases included acute myeloid leukemia (26%), acute lymphoid leukemia (13%), solid tumor (12%), and myelodysplastic syndrome (8%). The median length of defibrotide exposure was 17 (IQR: 11-25) days. An SAE of interest occurred in 19 (31%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 20%-43%) patients with severe VOD/SOS. The most common SAEs of interest by category were infection (n = 13 [21%; 95% CI: 11%-32%]) and bleeding events (n = 8 [13%; 95% CI: 5%-22%]). The most common individual SAEs of interest (≥5% of patients) were pneumonia (8%), gastrointestinal bleeding (8%), and sepsis (5%). Death occurred in 30 (49%) patients within 1 year, with VOD/SOS indicated as a cause of death in 13/30 (43%) patients. The Kaplan-Meier-estimated survival rate at Day 100 for patients diagnosed with severe VOD/SOS post-HCT who were treated with defibrotide was 74% (95% CI: 61%-83%). At latest follow-up, the survival rate was 51%, with median Kaplan-Meier-estimated survival post-HCT not yet reached. VOD/SOS resolved in 46 (75%) patients; the cumulative rate of VOD/SOS resolution at Day 100 was 87% (95% CI: 72%-94%). Resolution of MOF was achieved in 19/34 (56%) patients who had MOF at VOD/SOS diagnosis. In conclusion, among patients with severe VOD/SOS post-HCT (with/without MOF), the incidence of SAEs of interest was consistent with that observed in previous defibrotide clinical trials. Treatment with defibrotide resulted in high rates of Day 100 survival and VOD/SOS resolution
Acute Chest Syndrome in Children with Sickle Cell Disease in Italy: Results of a National Survey from the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology (AIEOP)
No full textBackground: Acute Chest Syndrome (ACS) is the second cause of hospitalization in Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), burdened by significant morbidity and mortality. The guidelines regarding management of ACS are sometimes difficult to follow in the real world and the prevention and treatment strategies of ACS are often applied in an uneven manner in the various settings (community care, regional hospitals, reference university centers). Moreover, epidemiology, clinical phenotype and outcomes as well as risk factors could vary in different populations according to ethnicity, genotype or health care system organization. Aims and Methods: A retrospective multicenter observational study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology of ACS and to the evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic pathways of ACS in children with SCD (age 0-18 years) in the 2013-2018 period, after the publication of the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology (AIEOP) Guidelines for the Management of SCD in Childhood in Italy in 2012. Results: 126 children were recruited and 122 included in the analysis, with 208 evaluable episodes of ACS (range: 1-6 episodes /patient) from 11 AIEOP Centers. 73 M, 49 F. Mean age was 10.9 years. 85% patients were of African origin, 92% were HbSS/SB°; mean age at diagnosis of SCD of the entire cohort was 25,3 months (range 0-16,8). 44.2% of patients had more than one episode of ACS during the study period; 37% had had a previous episode before 2013. 58% had comorbidities, mostly respiratory (asthma or allergy). 75% of the patients underwent disease modifying treatment during study period (73% hydroxyurea, 2% chronic transfusion). The seasonality of ACS episodes was important in our country: 75% of episodes occured between October and March. 95% of ACS episodes were secondary to a Vaso-Occlusive Crisis. 76% of the admissions occurred in SCD reference centers, 24% in regional hospitals, but 30% later required transfer to reference centers for worsening of clinical conditions or need of exchange transfusion. The mean length of hospitalization was 9.6 days (range 1-46); one patient died of pneumococcal sepsis; 6 episodes required transfer to the Intensive Care Unit, mechanical ventilation was required in one episode. A good adherence to the AIEOP Guidelines was documented for some aspects: 99% of the patients were hospitalized, 98% performed chest X-ray for the diagnosis of ACS and in 99% antibiotic therapy was started. Others aspects were less satisfactory and in need of improvement: incentive spirometry was only performed in 19% of admissions; oxygen therapy was performed only in 75% of patients even if SatO2 was<95%; transfer to reference centers was not always timely. During 75% of ACS episodes a simple red cell transfusion was required for Hb>8g/dl, while in 16% an exchange transfusion was performed for severe respiratory distress (of these 71% were performed in patients transfered from regional hospitals); 38% required inhaled bronchodilators, 6% steroids. A preliminay evaluation of risk factors for recurrent ACS showed that in our cohort allergy to inhaled allergens (p 0.02) and enuresis (p 0.01) were associated with increased prevalence of recurrent ACS; patients with asthma/wheezing also presented more recurrent ACS compared to patients wihout them (23% vs 13%) but this data did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: This study represents the first analysis in Italy of ACS, which is confirmed as a frequent event in our cohort, with a significant proportion of patients who experience recurrent ACS. Steps need to be undertaken to improve management of ACS and adherence to the AIEOP guidelines at a national level: stimulate the application of early preventive measures that are still under-utilized, increase the appropriateness of multidisciplinary specialist approach (transfusion specialist, acute care physicians, pneumologists, hematologists) strengthen the dissemination of information through training events for all the Hospitals of the network
Upfront Alternative Donor Transplant Versus Immunosuppressive Therapy in Patients with Severe Aplastic Anemia Who Lack FullyHLA Matched Related Donor: Systematic Review and Meta- Analysis of Retrospective Studies. on Behalf of the Severe Aplastic Anemia Working Party of European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (SAAWP of EBMT)
No full textIdiopathic aplastic anemia is a rare and life threatening disorder characterized by immune mediated hematopoietic stem cells dysfunction. The standard treatment strategy of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) has been hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for children and adults younger than the age of 40 if an HLA matched sibling donor (MSD) is available. Immunosuppressive therapy (IST) is the mainstay of treatment for older patients or when MSD is not available. The response rate to IST with the use of horse anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) is around 70%. Despite that, many patients s
Retrospective and Prospective Study of Childhood Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia. a Preliminary Report from the Red Cell Working Group of the Paediatric Hemato-Oncology Italian Associations (AIEOP)
No full textAutoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is an uncommon disease of childhood caused by the premature destruction of erythrocytes by autoantibodies. In this rare disease both diagnostic criteria and therapeutic approaches are not well standardized. The Red Cell Working Group of the Pediatric Italian Hematogy and Oncology Association (AIEOP) developed specific recommendations to help Physicians for AIHA management. The document is available on the AIEOP website since November 1st 2013. The Italian Pediatric AIHA Group began an observational, retrospective and prospective study in order to monitor the management of children with AIHA diagnosed from 2010 to 2018, and to assess whether the availability of AIEOP recommendations had an impact on the clinical management of such patients in AIEOP Centers. We collected a national cohort of 159 children with AIHA from 21 AIEOP Centers; 48 patients were diagnosed before November 2013 and 111 patients after that date. Gender was 56% males and 44% females; median age at diagnosis was 47 months, with 11.9% under 12 months of age; 8.2% of children were born prematurely and 3.9% showed congenital malformations. 23.2 % of patients had a familiar history of immunological, hematological or oncological diseases. The median hemoglobin level at diagnosis was 6.1 gr/dL. Table 1 reports the distribution of our cases, according to the different type of autoantibodies. The comparison between the retrospective and prospective study did not reveal significative differences in clinical and biological presentation. The cold IgM forms were mainly post infective (38.4%) or primary forms (53.8%), only one patient had a secondary form due to a primitive immunodeficiency. These patients did not develop other diseases during follow up (median follow up: 28,6 months). The preliminary results of treatment and follow up of the 146 patients with warm antibody AIHA revealed the following: The treatment with conventional dose of steroids (median dose 2 mg/Kg, range 0.7- 3.5 mg/Kg) was started in 94.4% of patients, in 53% of cases on the same day of diagnosis. A high number of children used additional treatment: red blood cell transfusions (51.4%), high dose Prednisolone (59.7%), high dose i.v. Immunoglobulin (49.7%) and Plasma Exchange (1.4%). 9.5% of patients, with poor responsive disease, needed alternative drugs during the first four weeks of therapy. Response criteria were so defined: a complete response was defined as the achievement of an Hb concentration greater than or equal to the lower normal limit for age with no signs of haemolysis, i.e. normal reticulocyte count and bilirubine concentration. A partial response was defined as an increase of Hb >2 g/dL without the Hb concentration reaching a normal value for the patient age and no response as an increase of Hb< 2 g/dL and/or dependence on transfusion. A complete response was reached by 62.5%, 79.3%, 85.1% at 3, 4, 6 weeks respectively. 14.9% of patients had either a partial response or a resistant disease at 6 weeks. IgG/IgG+C3d positivity was a negative prognostic factor, as compared to positivity to C3d only, with the need of a second line treatment (prevalently Mabthera or Mycophenolate Mofetil) in 31.7% vs 0, respectively (p 0.009). Currently 6.1% of the patients were lost to follow up, 1.3% died, 55,8% are in Complete Response without events and 21.9% of the patients are still on treatment . At the last follow up, in the whole "cohort" of warm AIHA, 58% have a Primary form, 15.7% an isolated post infective form and 27.7% a Secondary form (56% Evans Syndrome). The management of the patients diagnosed after November 2013 was mostly in agreement with our recommendations, whose comprehensive therapeutic algorithm is reported in table 2, with prolonged steroid tapering in order to extend the treatment for at least 6 months. The most important difference between the retrospective and prospective study was the duration of first line treatment: 6 months or more, for steroid dependence, in 71.6% of patients in the prospective study versus 52.3% of the retrospective (p 0.031) and, more importantly, the percentage of relapsed patients: 8.3% in the prospective study versus 29.8% of the retrospective (p 0.001), these data need a longer follow up (median follow up: 24 months in the prospective study versus 63 in the retrospective
Vaccination in Asplenia: Improving Quality of Care in Time of Coronavirus.
No full textOur study aims to evaluate influenza vaccination in a large population of asplenic patients and explore the main causes for non-vaccination to identify critical areas for improvement in the vaccination programme in these at-risk patients for the 2020-2021 influenza seaso
Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for Shwachman-Diamond disease: a study from the European Group for blood and marrow transplantation
No full textThis report assessed the results of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) in 26 patients with Shwachman-Diamond disease (SDS) and severe bone marrow abnormalities. The conditioning regimen was based on busulphan (54%), total body irradiation (23%), fludarabine (15%) or other chemotherapy combinations (8%). Standard prevention of graft versus host disease (GVHD) with ciclosporin +/- methotrexate was adopted in 54% of the patients whilst in vivo or in vitro T-cell depletion was used in 17 and four patients respectively. Neutrophil and platelet engraftment were achieved in 21 (81%) and 17 (65%) of 26 patients after a median time of 18 days and 29 days respectively. The incidence of grade III and IV acute GVHD was 24% and of chronic GVHD 29%. Nine patients died after a median time of 70 d, post-SCT. After a median follow-up of 1.1 years, the transplant-related mortality was 35.5% (95% CI 17-54) whilst the overall survival was 64.5% (95% CI 45.7-83.2). Allo-SCT was found to be successful in more than half of SDS patients with severe bone marrow dysfunction. Further improvements would be anticipated by a better definition of the optimum time in the course of disease to transplant and by the adoption of less toxic conditioning regimens
