Impact of COVID19 pandemic on patients with rare diseases in Spain, with a special focus on inherited metabolic diseases.

Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic soon became an international health emergency raising concern about its impact not only on physical health but also on quality of life and mental health. Rare diseases are chronically debilitating conditions with challenging patient care needs. We aimed to assess the quality of life and mental health of patients with rare diseases in Spain, with a special focus on inherited metabolic disorders (IMD). Methods: A prospective case-control study was designed, comparing 459 patients suffering from a rare disease (including 53 patients with IMD) and 446 healthy controls. Quality of life (QoL) and mental health were assessed using validated scales according to age: KINDL-R and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) for children and the WhoQoL-Bref questionnaire, GAD and PHQ-9 in adults. Results: First, children and adults (but not adolescents) with IMD showed greater psychological effects than controls (p = 0.022, p = 0.026 respectively). Second, when comparing QoL, only adult patients with IMD showed worse score than controls (66/100 vs 74,6/100 respectively, p = 0.017). Finally, IMD had better quality of life than other rare neurological and genetic diseases (p = 0.008) or other rare diseases (p < 0.001 respectively) but similar alteration of the mental status. Conclusions: Our data show that the pandemic had a negative impact on mental health that is more evident in the group of patients with IMD. Young age would behave as a protective factor on the perception of QoL. Furthermore, patients with IMD show a better QoL than other rare diseases.

Sarcoma histiocítico en intestino delgado: estudio y discusión de un caso con reordenamiento clonal linfoide B / Lymphoid B clonal rearrangement in histiocytic sarcoma of the small intestine. A case report

El sarcoma histiocítico es un tumor maligno infrecuente, de patogenia incierta, caracterizado por una proliferación de células neoplásicas con morfología e inmunofenotipo de los histiocitos tisulares maduros. Aunque existen pocas referencias bibliográficas, afecta a pacientes de ambos sexos, de amplio rango de edad y afectación nodal y/o extranodal. Se ha señalado la existencia en muchos casos de una estrecha relación entre esta entidad y varias neoplasias hematolinfoides en un mismo paciente, lo que ha dado lugar a múltiples estudios para esclarecer su etiología y su patogenia. Su curso suele ser rápidamente progresivo y no se conoce una pauta terapéutica eficaz. Actualmente su diagnóstico sigue siendo por exclusión. Presentamos el caso de un paciente de 82años con perforación de un asa yeyunal con una tumoración maligna que infiltra transmuralmente la pared y solo expresa CD68, CD45RO, CD163, lisozima y vimentina, junto con un reordenamiento clonal linfoideB con escasa amplificación (AU)

Histiocytic sarcoma is a rare malignant tumour of unknown pathogenesis characterized by proliferation of neoplastic cells morphologically and immunophenotypically similar to mature tissue histiocytes. There are only a few reported cases, but they have been described in both males and females of all ages and with nodal and extranodal involvement. A close relationship has often been observed with other haematolymphoid neoplasms which might provide clues to its etiology and pathogenesis. To date, diagnosis is by exclusion of other entities. The clinical course usually progresses rapidly and an effective therapeutic regime has not yet been established. We report a case in an 82year old male who had suffered a perforation of the jejunal loop and was found to have a malignant tumour infiltrating the wall of the small bowel. The tumour was positive only for CD68, CD45RO, CD163, lysozyme and vimentin and showed a Blymphoid clonal rearrangement with little amplification (AU)

Abnormal expression of cerebrospinal fluid cation chloride cotransporters in patients with Rett syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Rett Syndrome is a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder caused mainly by mutations in the gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2. The relevance of MeCP2 for GABAergic function was previously documented in animal models. In these models, animals show deficits in brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease. Neuronal Cation Chloride Cotransporters (CCCs) play a key role in GABAergic neuronal maturation, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor is implicated in the regulation of CCCs expression during development. Our aim was to analyse the expression of two relevant CCCs, NKCC1 and KCC2, in the cerebrospinal fluid of Rett syndrome patients and compare it with a normal control group. METHODS: The presence of bumetanide sensitive NKCC1 and KCC2 was analysed in cerebrospinal fluid samples from a control pediatric population (1 day to 14 years of life) and from Rett syndrome patients (2 to 19 years of life), by immunoblot analysis. RESULTS: Both proteins were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid and their levels are higher in the early postnatal period. However, Rett syndrome patients showed significantly reduced levels of KCC2 and KCC2/NKCC1 ratio when compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced KCC2/NKCC1 ratio in the cerebrospinal fluid of Rett Syndrome patients suggests a disturbed process of GABAergic neuronal maturation and open up a new therapeutic perspective.

Axenfeld-Rieger ocular anomaly and retinoblastoma caused by constitutional chromosome 13q deletion.

Axenfeld-Rieger (AR) ocular anomaly might be due to deletions of different chromosomes. No association between AR, mental retardation, and retinoblastoma has been described. We report a 2-month-old female with general development delay and dysmorphic features. AR anomaly was detected, and a retinoblastoma (RB) was diagnosed in a very early stage. De novo 13q deletion was identified. Systemic chemotherapy, focal cryotherapy, transpupillary thermotherapy, brachytherapy, and intra-arterial chemotherapy were needed to control the RB. This is the first report of an association of AR, 13q deletion, and retinoblastoma, to be disclosed in patients born with such ocular and dysmorphic features.

Efficacy of rasburicase in hyperuricemia secondary to Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.

We report on a 16-day-old male with metabolic acidosis, hyperuricemia, hyperuricosuria, and nephrocalcinosis caused by Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. Activity of the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) enzyme in lysed erythrocytes was undetectable, and molecular DNA analysis confirmed the presence of a 4-base pair deletion at the 5' end of intervening sequence 8 in the HPRT1 gene, a change that affects a 5' splice site consensus sequence. Rasburicase, a urate oxidase enzyme, was administered on day 26 of life, with an endovenous dose of 0.20 mg/kg/d for 3 days. Plasma urate concentrations normalized (2.96 mg/dL) at 38 days of life. Kidney function was preserved in our patient. In summary, rasburicase proved to be a safe and effective treatment in a patient with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome with uric acid nephropathy in the neonatal period.