Primary Carcinoma of the Fallopian Tube: A Review of a Single Institution Experience of 8 Cases

Aims and Objectives. To evaluate the clinicopathologic features, response to cytoreductive surgery and adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy with or without paclitaxel. Materials and Methods. A retrospective observational study of 8 women with a histopathologic diagnosis of primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC) from January 2000 to February 2013. Results. 4/8 (50%) of the women were in the early stage and an intraoperative frozen section was 100% effective in identifying fallopian tube carcinoma and then a staging laparotomy was performed. All 4/8 cases in the early stage had received and responded to single agent carboplatin and all are alive without clinical, radiological, or biochemical evidence of recurrence at the end of 2 years and the longest survivor has completed 13 years. Primary optimal cytoreductive surgery was achievable in 3/4 (75%) in advanced disease. All showed response to adjuvant paclitaxel and carboplatin (T+C), but all had succumbed to the disease following recurrence with mean progression-free survival of 19 months (range 15–21 months) and mean overall survival of 27 months (range 22–36 months). Conclusion. The pivotal role played by a frozen section in diagnosing PFTC which is rare needs to be reemphasized, therefore justifying a primary staging laparotomy in an early stage. Prolonged survival observed in this group following an optimum tailored adjuvant single agent carboplatin is worth noting

Randomized Clinical Trial of High-Dose Rifampicin With or Without Levofloxacin Versus Standard of Care for Pediatric Tuberculous Meningitis: The TBM-KIDS Trial

Background. Pediatric tuberculous meningitis (TBM) commonly causes death or disability. In adults, high-dose rifampicin may reduce mortality. The role of fluoroquinolones remains unclear. There have been no antimicrobial treatment trials for pediatric TBM. Methods. TBM-KIDS was a phase 2 open-label randomized trial among children with TBM in India and Malawi. Participants received isoniazid and pyrazinamide plus: (i) high-dose rifampicin (30 mg/kg) and ethambutol (R30HZE, arm 1); (ii) high-dose rifampicin and levofloxacin (R30HZL, arm 2); or (iii) standard-dose rifampicin and ethambutol (R15HZE, arm 3) for 8 weeks, followed by 10 months of standard treatment. Functional and neurocognitive outcomes were measured longitudinally using Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) and Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Results. Of 2487 children prescreened, 79 were screened and 37 enrolled. Median age was 72 months; 49%, 43%, and 8% had stage I, II, and III disease, respectively. Grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in 58%, 55%, and 36% of children in arms 1, 2, and 3, with 1 death (arm 1) and 6 early treatment discontinuations (4 in arm 1, 1 each in arms 2 and 3). By week 8, all children recovered to MRS score of 0 or 1. Average MSEL scores were significantly better in arm 1 than arm 3 in fine motor, receptive language, and expressive language domains (P < .01). Conclusions. In a pediatric TBM trial, functional outcomes were excellent overall. The trend toward higher frequency of adverse events but better neurocognitive outcomes in children receiving high-dose rifampicin requires confirmation in a larger trial. Clinical Trials Registration. NCT02958709

Flow immunophenotyping features of crisis phase of chronic myeloid leukemia in childhood: do we really care?

Objective: Chronic leukemias are rare in childhood &amp; CML is extremely rare in children. Imunophenotypic studies have a limited role in the diagnosis of CML but are increasingly being used in CML blast transformation. Purpose of the study was determine the clinical and laboratory and Flow immunophenotyping (FIC) features with Mutational analysis of blast transformation of CML in children. Methods: 11 years analysis was done 187 cases of suspected CML were studied in children and adolescents. Patients were evaluated at KMIO between 2004 to 2015. 97 cases had Bone marrow diagnosis of CML. 22 cases peripheral smear was suggestive of blastic phase CML (20 %) were chosen for the study. Bone marrow confirmation was available in all the cases. Cytogenetics and Molecular confirmation was also available in all cases. FIC was done in 8/22(36%) cases. Mutations were studied in 7 cases. Results: The disease predominantly affected older children more than 10 years 16/22(72 %). Male sex predilection was seen. Gender ratio was 1.4: 1. Most predominant clinical sign was splenomegaly. Leucocyte count&gt;100X109/L was seen in all cases. Peripherals smear suggested CML in all 22cases and bone marrow aspiration confirmed the diagnosis.17 Cases were at diagnosis. 5 Cases progressed to blastic phase from chronic phase. Median year of transformation was 4 years. In 22 cases Phildelphia chromosome was noted and 5 cases revealed additional markers PCR revealed p210 transcript in all cases. In 8 cases in the blastic phase Flow cytometry immunophenotype was done. 5 cases were myeloid blastic phase, single case was mixed phenotype, 2 cases were lymphoid blastic phase. Conclusion: Imatinib highly effective in children with advanced phase of CML. This is the largest, exclusive first reported series of blastic phase of CML in children from a single center. Only 5 cases received Imatinib, All 5cases attained remission; Cases are on follow up and continue to be in remission after a mean of 6 months