Solid organ transplantation from hepatitis B virus-positive donors: consensus guidelines for recipient management.

Use of organs from donors testing positive for hepatitis B virus (HBV) may safely expand the donor pool. The American Society of Transplantation convened a multidisciplinary expert panel that reviewed the existing literature and developed consensus recommendations for recipient management following the use of organs from HBV positive donors. Transmission risk is highest with liver donors and significantly lower with non-liver (kidney and thoracic) donors. Antiviral prophylaxis significantly reduces the rate of transmission to liver recipients from isolated HBV core antibody positive (anti-HBc+) donors. Organs from anti-HBc+ donors should be considered for all adult transplant candidates after an individualized assessment of the risks and benefits and appropriate patient consent. Indefinite antiviral prophylaxis is recommended in liver recipients with no immunity or vaccine immunity but not in liver recipients with natural immunity. Antiviral prophylaxis may be considered for up to 1 year in susceptible non-liver recipients but is not recommended in immune non-liver recipients. Although no longer the treatment of choice in patients with chronic HBV, lamivudine remains the most cost-effective choice for prophylaxis in this setting. Hepatitis B immunoglobulin is not recommended.

Early clinical indicators of transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy in pediatric neuroblastoma patients undergoing auto-SCT.

Patients undergoing auto-SCT for neuroblastoma present a unique population to study transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA), due to standardized chemotherapy and later exposure to radiation and cis-retinoic acid (cis-RA). We retrospectively analyzed 20 patients after auto-SCT to evaluate early clinical indicators of TA-TMA. A total of 6 patients developing TA-TMA (30% prevalence) were compared with 14 controls. Four of six patients were diagnosed with TA-TMA by 25 days after auto-SCT. Compared with controls, TA-TMA patients had higher average systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels during high-dose chemotherapy and developed hypertension by day 13 after auto-SCT. Proteinuria was a significant marker for TA-TMA, whereas blood and platelet transfusion requirements were not. Serum creatinine did not differ between groups post transplant. However, patients with TA-TMA had a 60% decrease in renal function from baseline by nuclear glomerular filtration rate, compared with a 25% decrease in those without TA-TMA (P=0.001). There was no TA-TMA-related mortality. Significant complications included end-stage renal disease (n=1) and polyserositis (n=3). Patients with TA-TMA were unable to complete cis-RA therapy after auto-SCT. We suggest that careful attention to blood pressure and urinalysis will assist in the early diagnosis of TA-TMA, whereas serum creatinine seems to be an insensitive marker for this condition.

Cost-efficient screening for BK virus in pediatric kidney transplantation: a single-center experience and review of the literature.

BKVNP is an increasingly recognized cause of graft dysfunction and loss in kidney transplant recipients. Protocols for BKV screening and for the diagnosis of BKVNP are still evolving. PCR-based BKV detection became available at our institution in 2007, when we began using it according to published guidelines. We subsequently reviewed our experience with urine and plasma BKV PCR testing in our pediatric kidney transplant recipient population. We found rates of viruria, viremia, and BKVNP that were similar to the published literature. We also conducted a cost analysis suggesting that urine PCR testing, as used by us, is not cost efficient in the detection of BKV. We conclude that plasma only-based PCR testing for BKV may be sufficient in most clinical settings.

A systematic literature review of the clinical and epidemiological burden of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Our goal was to identify and summarize the published literature pertaining to the incidence, prevalence, mortality, aetiology, clinical diagnosis, and management of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia represents 12% of all leukaemia cases, with a worldwide incidence projected to be 1-4.75 per 100,000 people. Italy, the United States (US), Switzerland, and Costa Rica are the countries with the highest incidence of ALL. Hereditary link, genetic defects, and possibly radiation or chemical exposures are listed amongst the most significant risk factors. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is predominantly a disease of childhood, but it affects adults as well. It accounts for 80% of all leukaemia cases in children. The incidence is slightly higher in men than in women and greater in white people than in black people. In 2003 in the US, there were an estimated 5800 deaths from ALL. Presenting signs and symptoms of ALL are fairly non-specific and include fever, anaemia, petechiae, and bone and joint pain. Staging of the disease and patient risk profile are routinely performed to define ALL subtypes and guide management. Chemotherapy, cranial radiation in patients with high-risk disease, and stem cell transplantation for selected patients are the prevalent therapies. Complete remission rates are high, especially amongst children (even 100%); however, long-term survival at 10 years (event-free survival) is in the range of 63% for children and 25-35% for adults. This implies that there is still a strong need for new therapies to maintain remission and prolong survival. Future treatment strategies may be driven by the patient's minimal residual disease status, a measure that more precisely defines remission, prognosis, responsiveness to therapy, and expected long-term survival.

The clinical and epidemiological burden of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

The purpose of this literature review was to identify and summarize published studies describing the epidemiology and management of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia represents 22-30% of all leukaemia cases with a worldwide incidence projected to be between < 1 and 5.5 per 100,000 people. Australia, the USA, Ireland and Italy have the highest CLL incidence rates. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia presents in adults, at higher rates in males than in females and in whites than in blacks. Median age at diagnosis is 64-70 years. Five-year survival rate in the USA is 83% for those < 65 years old and 68% for those 65 + years old. Hereditary and genetic links have been noted. Persons with close relatives who have CLL have an increased risk of developing it themselves. No single environmental risk factor has been found to be predictive for CLL. Patients are usually diagnosed at routine health care visits because of elevated lymphocyte counts. The most common presenting symptom of CLL is lymphadenopathy, while difficulty exercising and fatigue are common complaints. Most patients do not receive treatment after initial diagnosis unless presenting with clear pathologic conditions. Pharmacological therapy may consist of monotherapy or combination therapy involving glucocorticoids, alkylating agents, and purine analogs. Fludarabine may be the most effective single drug treatment currently available. Combination therapy protocols have not been shown to be more effective than fludarabine alone. As no cure is yet available, a strong unmet medical need exists for innovative new therapies. Experimental treatments under development include allogeneic stem cell transplant, mini-allogeneic transplants, and monoclonal antibodies (e.g. alemtuzumab against CD52; rituximab against CD20).

Quality of life aspects of bladder cancer: a review of the literature.

Not much is generally known regarding the burden imposed by bladder cancer upon patient health-related quality of life (HRQL). The role of HRQL in affecting patient preferences and utility assessment and, ultimately, the selection of therapeutic regimen, or patient satisfaction with that selection, is considered increasingly important by the medical community. Therefore, the main focus of this evaluation was to review the international medical literature to better understand the impact of bladder cancer on patient HRQL. A search was performed using electronic and manual databases for published articles on HRQL and bladder cancer for the years 1966 onward. Thirty-five references dealing with HRQL were analyzed as part of this review. Of these, 29 were published after 1989. Most studies have identified urinary and sexual HRQL domains as being of greatest concern to patients. However, little is known about the short- and long-term impacts of specific therapeutic options for either superficial bladder cancer (SBC) or invasive bladder cancer (IBC). Increased awareness and use of the HRQL instruments such as the FACT-BL as well as the EORTC-QLQ-BLS24 and the EORTC-QLQ-BLM30 (when they are validated for SBC and IBC, respectively), should increase our understanding of the impact of this disease and its management options on patient HRQL.

Novel gastrointestinal tract manifestations in juvenile dermatomyositis.

We report a case of juvenile dermatomyositis in which a dilated atonic esophagus was associated with delayed gastric emptying and intestinal mucosal thickening, resulting in a radiographic "stacked coin" appearance. These findings, which can also occur in infectious, neoplastic, or other immune-mediated diseases, broaden the spectrum of gastrointestinal tract manifestations in juvenile dermatomyositis. Physicians should be alert for these treatable manifestations in children with myositis who present with unexplained gastrointestinal symptoms, which are reversible with immunosuppressive therapy.