Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria Infection in a Febrile Neutropenic Patient

A 49-year old man who was sent to our hospital because of high fever, cellulitis at left arm and pancytopenia was diagnosed as neutropenic fever, and treatment with imipenem 4 x 500 mg intravenous (IV) and clindamycin 4 x 600 mg IV was started immediately after the cultures were taken. The patient had been followed up for type 2 diabetes mellitus for ten years, and after our clinical and laboratory examinations he was diagnosed as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Aeromonas veronii biovar sobria was isolated as the agent of cellulitis at the left arm after trauma. As the microorganism was sensitive to imipenem, treatment according to antimicrobial susceptibility test, the present treatment was continued. The patient whose general condition worsened at the follow up died despite all supportive treatment

Behaviour of steel cushions subjected to combined actions

Mild steel is relatively low-cost and easily accessible material to fabricate some structural members. It would be a significant advantage if seismic energy dissipaters that are used in structures constructed in the earthquake prone areas, could also be produced on site. In this paper, a promising seismic energy dissipater made of mild steel, so-called steel cushion (SC) is presented. It is provided experimental and analytical responses of SCs subjected to bi-axial loadings. SC rolls under the lateral loading that allows relocation of the plasticized cross-section. Henceforth, SC dissipates considerable amount of seismic energy. A series of tests were performed to achieve experimentally the behavior of SC subjected to longitudinal and transversal loading. Finite Element Models (FEMs) were also generated to reproduce the experimental backbone curves and to predict the bi-directional response properties for discrete transversal forces and plate thicknesses. Closed-form equations were derived to determine yield and ultimate forces and the corresponding displacements as well as location of the plasticized sections. The behavior of SC could either be projected by the FEMs with the exhibited parameters or by means of the proposed closed-form equations and the normalized design chart

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pneumonia During Febrile Neutropenia and Its Treatment

Twenty-four years old male who had chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) for eight months, was admitted to emergency unit because of fatigue, palpitation, dyspnea and fever. He was hospitalized because of blastic transformation from CML to acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and also febrile neutropenia. Respiratory distress and hypotension occurred and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia was laboratorally diagnosed. He responded to the oral ribavirin therapy but he died because of a new febrile neutropenic episode and bleeding. This case is the first reported RSV pneumonia in a febrile neutropenic patient and its treatment choices are limited in our country

Nivolumab for relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma: Real-life experience

Background: Reed-Sternberg cells of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) are characterized by genetic alterations at the 9p24.1 locus, leading to over-expression of programmed death-ligand 1 and 2. In a phase 1b study, nivolumab, a PD-1-blocking antibody, produced a high response in patients with relapsed or refractory cHL, with an acceptable safety profile. Patients and methods: We present a retrospective analysis of 82 patients (median age: 30 years; range: 18-75) with relapsed/refractory HL treated with nivolumab in a named patient program from 24 centers throughout Turkey. The median follow-up was 7 months, and the patients had a median of 5 (2-11) previous lines of therapy. Fifty-seven (70%) and 63 (77%) had been treated by stem-cell transplantation and brentuximab vedotin, respectively. Results: Among 75 patients evaluated after 12 weeks of nivolumab treatment, the objective response rate was 64%, with 16 complete responses (CR; 22%); after 16 weeks, it was 60%, with 16 (26%) patients achieving CR. Twenty patients underwent subsequent transplantation. Among 11 patients receiving allogeneic stem-cell transplantation, 5 had CR at the time of transplantation and are currently alive with ongoing response. At the time of analysis, 41 patients remained on nivolumab treatment. Among the patients who discontinued nivolumab, the main reason was disease progression (n = 19). The safety profile was acceptable, with only four patients requiring cessation of nivolumab due to serious adverse events (autoimmune encephalitis, pulmonary adverse event, and two cases of graft-versus-host disease aggravation). The 6-month overall and progression-free survival rates were 91.2% (95% confidence interval: 0.83-0.96) and 77.3% (0.66-0.85), respectively. Ten patients died during the follow-up; one of these was judged to be treatment-related. Conclusions: Nivolumab represents a novel option for patients with cHL refractory to brentuximab vedotin, and may serve as a bridge to transplantation; however, it may be associated with increased toxicity

Nivolumab for relapsed or refractory hodgkin lymphoma experience in Turkey

22nd Congress of the European-Hematology-Association -- JUN 22-25, 2017 -- Madrid, SPAINWOS: 000404127001176…The European Hematology Associatio