Use of deferoxamine (DFO) in transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia during pregnancy: A retrospective study.

Objective: To report cases of use of chelation therapy during pregnancy which resulted in favorable outcomes for the babies. Materials and methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we described the evolution and outcome of 9 pregnancies in Italian thalassemic women who received deferoxamine (DFO) inadvertently during early pregnancy. Results: The use of deferoxamine during first trimester did not lead to adverse effects on the fetus or cause major complications for the gestation, although an increase in iron burden was observed after suspending chelation therapy. Conclusion: In our experience, iron-chelation therapy might be administrated in pregnancy where the benefits to the mother outweigh the potential risks to the baby. Keywords: Deferoxamine, Iron chelation therapy, Magnetic resonance T2*, Pregnancy, Thalassemi

Immunoglobulin Anti-D for Treatment of Chronic ITP in Children

[No abstract available

[Spondylitis in infancy. A case report].

The authors report on a case of a spondylodiskitis in three year old child. Diskitis is an inflammatory process of the intervertebral disk space, not often described in pediatric age. The etiology is infective and generally presents with lumbar spine localization. Clinically it is characterized by lumbar pain at times radiating to a lower extremity. Symptoms are aspecific and radiological signs do not appear for several weeks after the onset of symptoms. Interest in this pathology derives from the fact that it may be more common than previously recognized. This case offered us the opportunity to review principal symptoms of diskitis and to describe the main diagnostic technics used

Transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy (THI): IVIG as first line therapy

IVIG (Intravenous immunoglobulin) have significantly improved the prognosis and the quality of life of immunodeficient patients and are routinely used as substitutive therapy. Transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy (THI) is a primary humoral immunodeficiency characterized by a transient IgG defect, but is not considered as a disease that justifies substitutive treatment and thus the use of IVIG as an alternative to antibiotic prophylaxis remains controversial also in symptomatic children. We treated 13 THI children severely symptomatic with IVIG (400mg/kg/every 3 weeks ) for a limited period (2 or 3 months) and followed them for 1 to 3 years. During the follow-up, the frequency of overall infections decreased approximately tenfold (from 0.39 to 0.047 infection/month per child) and no severe infections were reported. Although this study lacks untreated controls, the results suggest that the observed clinical improvement is correlated to IVIG therapy. Furthermore, our study suggests that the infused IVIG have no long-term effect on endogenous IgG production and do not lengthen the immunodeficiency condition since all children produced a normal amount of specific IgG in response to vaccination carried out 5 months after the end of infusions. In conclusion, our results suggest that IVIG may stop the vicious circle of infection-immunodeficiency and should be considered as a first line therapy in highly symptomatic THI children

Down syndrome with unusual chromosome translocation: Case report and review

We report a case of Down syndrome with unusual chromosome translocation. The proband is a 1 year old male with 47, XY, der (5) t(5;21) (q11;q21), + der (5) t(5;21). The mother's karyotype was 46, XX, der (5) t(5,21) (q11;q21). The chromosome imbalance resulted from 3:1 meiotic segregation