Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a Salvage Treatment for Severe Refractory Graft-vs-Host Disease in Children After Bone Marrow Transplantation.

Application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) enables a novel approach to the therapy of graft- vs-host disease (GVHD) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Herein we present our preliminary experience with the use of allogeneic bone marrow‒derived MSC in 9 pediatric patients after hematopoietic transplantation complicated by severe acute or chronic GVHD (aGVHD, cGVHD) resistant to steroids and second-line immunosuppressants. The MSC therapy was applied concurrently with immunosuppressive treatment in 5 patients as a single infusion, in four patients as 2-6 infusions.

Ultrasound imaging as the basis of a clinical diagnosis of systemic bartonellosis in a patient after bone marrow transplantation. A case report.

Infections in immunocompromised patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can have a severe and atypical course. Some opportunistic pathogens are difficult to detect in microbiological tests, and that is why treatment success depends on an accurate clinical diagnosis. This article presents a case of a 7-year-old girl with severe aplastic anemia treated with bone marrow transplantation with post-transplantation period complicated by persistent, hectic fever, with peak episodes of 39-40°C, lasting several weeks.

Adoptive therapy with donor lymphocyte infusion after allogenic hematopoietic SCT in pediatric patients.

The aim of this study was to analyse the experience of Polish Pediatric Group for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in respect to donor lymphocyte infusion procedure. The study included 51 pediatric patients with malignant (45) and non-malignant (6) diseases treated with DLI in the period 1993-2012. The indications for DLI were as follows: (1) increasing recipient chimerism after non-ablative hematopoietic SCT (18 patients); (2) immunomodulation after a reduced intensity conditioning regimen (2 patients); (3) increase in minimal residual disease detection (3 patients); and (4) relapse (28 patients).

Visfatin concentrations in children with leukemia before and after stem cell transplantation.

Visfatin (VF) is an adipocytokine that performs many functions, including enhancing cell proliferation and biosynthesis of nicotinamide mononucleotides and dinucleotides. It also seems to be involved in the development of glucose metabolism disturbances. The goal of the study was the determination of VF concentrations in children with leukemia who are treated with stem cell transplantation.

Status of immunity for vaccine--preventable diseases in children after hematopoietic stem cells transplantation.

Introduction: patients treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) lose immune memory accumulated through a lifetime. They are at increased risk of developing infections with microorganisms such as Haemophilus influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae and others for which vaccines are available. Therefore, all patients after HSCT should be routinely revaccinated.