Survival of Mexican children with acute myeloid leukaemia who received early intensification chemotherapy and an autologous transplant.

Background: In Mexico and other developing countries, few reports of the survival of children with acute leukaemia exist. Objective. We aimed at comparing the disease-free survival of children with acute myeloid leukaemia who, in addition to being treated with the Latin American protocol of chemotherapy and an autologous transplant, either underwent early intensified chemotherapy or did not undergo such treatment.

Thrombin generation as objective parameter of treatment response in patients with severe haemophilia A and high-titre inhibitors.

In Mexico, 15% of haemophilia A (HA) patients develop inhibitory alloantibodies in response to replacement therapy with factor VIII (FVIII), requiring bypass therapy such as activated prothrombin complex concentrate (APCC). Because bypass therapy has not been broadly available in Mexico even in recent years, this study aimed to evaluate the thrombin generation assay (TGA) in assessing the response to FVIII or APCC treatment in patients with severe HA positive to inhibitors. We studied 189 patients with severe HA.

Haemophilic arthropathy: the usefulness of intra-articular oxytetracycline (synoviorthesis) in the treatment of chronic synovitis in children.

Synoviorthesis is already widely used in the treatment of chronic haemophilic synovitis. The aim of this study was evaluate the effectiveness of oxytetracicline synoviorthesis on the frequency of haemarthrosis in haemophilic children with chronic synovitis and its impact on joint function. Between January 2001 and October 2006, we performed 34 synoviorthesis in 28 paediatric patients (6-16 years old) with diagnosis of haemophilic arthropathy stage I-II.

Treatment with interferon-alpha-2b in children with life-threatening hemangiomas.

Background: Childhood hemangiomas are benign tumors of endothelial cells, characterized by a rapidly proliferating initial phase and followed by a slow involution. However, some grow and may reach a massive size, threatening a patient's functions or life. These require immediate medical treatment.

[Peripheral pancytopenia].

Peripheral pancytopenia is a syndrome which allows for an early diagnosis, and although is may cover a large number of pathological entities, it can be clearly defined into three groups of illnesses which evolve with this syndromal manifestations. The first group includes non-neoplastic illnesses which include aplastic anemia, hemophagocytic syndrome associated to infection, immunological diseases and the deficiency of folates or vitamin B12. The second group includes neoplastic diseases as acute leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Hodgkin's lymphoma with myelofibrosis, malignant histiocytosis and non-hematological neoplasms, like the neuroblastoma and the embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.