Acute abdomen after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

We report a case of a patient who underwent allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation complicated by acute colonic pseudo obstruction who required surgery after failure of conservative therapy

HLA-haploidentical T cell-depleted allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children with fanconi anemia

Abstract We report the outcome of 12 consecutive pediatric patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) who had neither an HLA-identical sibling nor an HLA-matched unrelated donor and who were given T cell–depleted, CD34 + positively selected cells from a haploidentical related donor after a reduced-intensity, fludarabine-based conditioning regimen. Engraftment was achieved in 9 of 12 patients (75%), and the cumulative incidence of graft rejection was 17% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5% to 59%). Cumulative incidences of grades II to IV acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease were 17% (95% CI, 5% to 59%) and 35% (95% CI, 14% to 89%), respectively. The conditioning regimen was well tolerated, with no fatal regimen-related toxicity and 3 cases of grade III regimen-related toxicity. The cumulative incidence of transplant-related mortality was 17% (95% CI, 5% to 59%). The 5-year overall survival, event-free survival, and disease-free survival were 83% (95% CI, 62% to 100%), 67% (95% CI, 40% to 93%), and 83% (95% CI, 62% to 100%), respectively. These data demonstrate that a fludarabine-based conditioning regimen, followed by infusion of high doses of T cell–depleted stem cells, is able to ensure engraftment with good overall survival and disease-free survival, confirming the feasibility of haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in FA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest series of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from a haploidentical related donor in FA patients reported to date

Clinical Outcome after Adoptive Infusion of BPX-501 Cells (donor T cells transduced with iC9 suicide gene) in Children with Thalassemia Major (TM) Given Alfa/Beta T-Cell Depleted HLA-Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT)

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Partial T cell defects and expanded CD56bright NK cells in an SCID patient carrying hypomorphic mutation in the IL2RG gene

X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (X-SCID) caused by full mutation of the IL2RG gene leads to T- B+ NK- phenotype and is usually associated with severe opportunistic infections, diarrhea, and failure to thrive. When IL2RG hypomorphic mutation occurs, diagnosis could be delayed and challenging since only moderate reduction of T and NK cells may be present. Here, we explored phenotypic insights and the impact of the p.R222C hypomorphic mutation (IL2RGR222C ) in distinct cell subsets in an 8-month-old patient with atypical X-SCID. We found reduced CD4+ T cell counts, a decreased frequency of naïve CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and an expansion of B cells. Ex vivo STAT5 phosphorylation was impaired in CD4+ CD45RO+ T cells, yet compensated by supraphysiological doses of IL-2. Sanger sequencing on purified cell subsets showed a partial reversion of the mutation in total CD3+ cells, specifically in recent thymic emigrants (RTE), effector memory (EM), and CD45RA+ terminally differentiated EM (EMRA) CD4+ T cells. Of note, patient's NK cells had a normal frequency compared to age-matched healthy subjects, but displayed an expansion of CD56bright cells with higher perforin content and cytotoxic potential, associated with accumulation of NK-cell stimulatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-7, IL-15). Overall, this report highlights an alteration in the NK-cell compartment that, together with the high disease-phenotype variability, should be considered in the suspicion of X-SCID with hypomorphic IL2RG mutation

GATEKEEPER’s Strategy for the Multinational Large-Scale Piloting of an eHealth Platform: Tutorial on How to Identify Relevant Settings and Use Cases

Background: The World Health Organization’s strategy toward healthy aging fosters person-centered integrated care sustained by eHealth systems. However, there is a need for standardized frameworks or platforms accommodating and interconnecting multiple of these systems while ensuring secure, relevant, fair, trust-based data sharing and use. The H2020 project GATEKEEPER aims to implement and test an open-source, European, standard-based, interoperable, and secure framework serving broad populations of aging citizens with heterogeneous health needs. Objective: We aim to describe the rationale for the selection of an optimal group of settings for the multinational large-scale piloting of the GATEKEEPER platform. Methods: The selection of implementation sites and reference use cases (RUCs) was based on the adoption of a double stratification pyramid reflecting the overall health of target populations and the intensity of proposed interventions; the identification of a principles guiding implementation site selection; and the elaboration of guidelines for RUC selection, ensuring clinical relevance and scientific excellence while covering the whole spectrum of citizen complexities and intervention intensities. Results: Seven European countries were selected, covering Europe’s geographical and socioeconomic heterogeneity: Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. These were complemented by the following 3 Asian pilots: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Implementation sites consisted of local ecosystems, including health care organizations and partners from industry, civil society, academia, and government, prioritizing the highly rated European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Aging reference sites. RUCs covered the whole spectrum of chronic diseases, citizen complexities, and intervention intensities while privileging clinical relevance and scientific rigor. These included lifestyle-related early detection and interventions, using artificial intelligence–based digital coaches to promote healthy lifestyle and delay the onset or worsening of chronic diseases in healthy citizens; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure decompensations management, proposing integrated care management based on advanced wearable monitoring and machine learning (ML) to predict decompensations; management of glycemic status in diabetes mellitus, based on beat to beat monitoring and short-term ML-based prediction of glycemic dynamics; treatment decision support systems for Parkinson disease, continuously monitoring motor and nonmotor complications to trigger enhanced treatment strategies; primary and secondary stroke prevention, using a coaching app and educational simulations with virtual and augmented reality; management of multimorbid older patients or patients with cancer, exploring novel chronic care models based on digital coaching, and advanced monitoring and ML; high blood pressure management, with ML-based predictions based on different intensities of monitoring through self-managed apps; and COVID-19 management, with integrated management tools limiting physical contact among actors. Conclusions: This paper provides a methodology for selecting adequate settings for the large-scale piloting of eHealth frameworks and exemplifies with the decisions taken in GATEKEEPER the current views of the WHO and European Commission while moving forward toward a European Data Space

The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes

The Role of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Pediatric Leukemia

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers potentially curative treatment for many children with high-risk or relapsed acute leukemia (AL), thanks to the combination of intense preparative radio/chemotherapy and the graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect. Over the years, progress in high-resolution donor typing, choice of conditioning regimen, graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis and supportive care measures have continuously improved overall transplant outcome, and recent successes using alternative donors have extended the potential application of allotransplantation to most patients. In addition, the importance of minimal residual disease (MRD) before and after transplantation is being increasingly clarified and MRD-directed interventions may be employed to further ameliorate leukemia-free survival after allogeneic HSCT. These advances have occurred in parallel with continuous refinements in chemotherapy protocols and the development of targeted therapies, which may redefine the indications for HSCT in the coming years. This review discusses the role of HSCT in childhood AL by analysing transplant indications in both acute lymphoblastic and acute myeloid leukemia, together with current and most promising strategies to further improve transplant outcome, including optimization of conditioning regimen and MRD-directed interventions