Correlation of 18F-FDG PET/MRE Metrics with Inflammatory Biomarkers in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: A Pilot Study

Background. To investigate the association between 18F-FDG (Fluorodeoxyglucose) PET (positron emission tomography)/MRE (magnetic resonance enterography) metrics with the inflammatory biomarkers fecal calprotectin and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods. This prospective pilot study was institutional review board (IRB) approved with informed consent obtained. Consecutive CD patients were referred to 18F-FDG PET/MRE. Patients in whom colonoscopy was performed and CRP and fecal calprotectin levels were measured were included. CRP and fecal calprotectin were regarded as positive for inflammation if they were greater than 0.5 mg/dl and 150 mcg/g, respectively. Correlation of quantitative variables was performed using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the accuracy of PET and MRE metrics in determining the presence of inflammation evaluated by calprotectin and CRP levels. Results. Analysis of 21 patients (16 women and 5 men, 43±18 years) was performed. Magnetic resonance index of activity (MaRIA) score had an AUC of 0.63 associated with fecal calprotectin and CRP. Adding apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and metabolic inflammatory volume (MIV) to MaRIA score resulted in an AUC of 0.92 with a cutoff value of 447 resulting in 83% and 100% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. Conclusion. The addition of ADC and MIV to the MaRIA score increases the accuracy for discrimination of disease activity in patients with CD. Trial registration number is 2015062

Salvage therapy of refractory and relapsed acute leukemia with high dose mitoxantrone and high dose cytarabine

We have assessed the outcome of 66 refractory and relapsed acute leukemia patients treated with high dose mitoxantrone and cytarabine. Therapy consisted of a total dose of 40–60 mg/m 2 mitoxantrone and 3 g/m 2 of cytarabine daily on 5 consecutive days. A total of 28 patients were treated for primary resistant and 38 patients for early or late relapsed leukemia. A total of 35 patients achieved CR. Four patients died during the induction course. Toxicity was acceptable and comparable to other salvage regimens. The median disease-free and overall survivals were 4 and 6 months, respectively. Although this regimen is effective in achieving remission in refractory leukemia, its duration is short

Hematopoietic growth factors in aplastic anemia patients treated with immunosuppressive therapy-systematic review and meta-analysis

Immunosuppressive therapy is the treatment for aplastic anemia patients ineligible for transplantation. The role of hematopoietic growth factors as adjunct to treatment in these patients is unclear. Findings of this study indicate that the addition of hematopoietic growth factors does not affect mortality, response rate or infections occurrence. Therefore, it should not be recommended routinely as an adjunct to the immunosuppressive therapy for patients with aplastic anemia