Publications by authors named "Assaf A Barg"

Introduction: Hemophilia A (HA) therapy poses a significant healthcare burden. In recent years, emicizumab has been approved for prophylaxis. The current study explores the impact of transitioning to emicizumab on emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations in pediatric and adult HA patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pearson syndrome (PS) and Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS) are mitochondrial DNA deletion syndromes with PS causing severe childhood cytopenia and KSS having later onset without blood-related issues, both sharing a common mitochondrial DNA deletion.
  • A study of 16 patients revealed that 75% had cytopenia, with many needing blood transfusions, and even after achieving transfusion independence, they showed persistent bone marrow (BM) dysfunction.
  • The research highlights that BM dysfunction is a consistent finding in SLSMD syndromes, which raises concerns about potential clonal evolution and chromosome 7 abnormalities, underscoring the need for specialized hematological monitoring for these patients.
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Background: Immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (iTTP) in children is a rare, severe thrombotic microangiopathy. This condition is characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, severe thrombocytopenia, and organ ischemia due to reduced activity of the von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease ADAMTS13.

Methods: A retrospective case series evaluating data collected from the medical files of 4 children diagnosed with iTTP.

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Pediatric splenic infarction (SI) is rare yet clinically significant. Publications regarding this complication are mostly limited to case reports. This is a retrospective study examining SI etiology, clinical presentation, management, and outcomes among children.

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The hallmark of haemophilia A (HA) therapy is prophylaxis, aimed at spontaneous bleeding prevention. Emicizumab provides a viable alternative to intravenous factor replacement therapy. However, data on its use in infants are limited.

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Factor XI (FXI) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder that presents complex challenges in patient assessment and bleeding risk management. Despite generally causing mild to moderate bleeding symptoms, clinical manifestations can vary, and bleeding tendency does not always correlate with FXI plasma levels or genotype. Our manuscript delves into the age-related nuances of FXI deficiency across an individual's lifespan.

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Background: This study aimed to evaluate the bleeding phenotype and to conduct a comprehensive hemostatic evaluation in individuals with Noonan syndrome (NS), a dominantly inherited disorder caused by pathogenic variants in genes associated with the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway.

Methods: Children with a genetically confirmed diagnosis of NS underwent clinical evaluation, routine laboratory tests, platelet function testing, and thrombin generation (TG) assessment.

Results: The study included 24 children.

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Background: Persons with hemophilia A may require surgical procedures. Real-world data on invasive procedures in persons with hemophilia A receiving emicizumab prophylaxis are limited.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety of invasive procedures in persons with hemophilia A receiving emicizumab prophylaxis and their outcomes in a longitudinally followed cohort.

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Background: Using emicizumab in lieu of immune tolerance induction (ITI) for patients with hemophilia A (HA) and factor (F)VIII inhibitors has been well described. However, decisions regarding ITI initiation, regimen, and preservation of tolerance remain to be elucidated.

Objectives: To study the course of FVIII inhibitors in patients with HA and a history of FVIII inhibitors receiving emicizumab prophylaxis.

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Hemophilia A (HA), a rare recessive X-linked bleeding disorder, is caused by either deficiency or dysfunction of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) resulting from deleterious mutations in the F8 gene encoding FVIII. Over the last 4 decades, the methods aimed at determining the HA carrier status in female relatives of HA patients have evolved from phenotypic studies based on coagulation tests providing merely probabilistic results, via genetic linkage studies based on polymorphic markers providing more accurate results, to next generation sequencing studies enabling highly precise identification of the causative F8 mutation. In parallel, the options for prenatal diagnosis of HA have progressed from examination of FVIII levels in fetal blood samples at weeks 20-22 of pregnancy to genetic analysis of fetal DNA extracted from chorionic villus tissue at weeks 11-14 of pregnancy.

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Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is rare in patients aged <21 years. Young adults aged 18 to 21 years are frequently included in adult VTE studies, whereas pediatric VTE studies include patients aged up to either 18 or 21 years. The clinical characteristics of young adult patients with VTE have not been well defined.

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Background: The clinical characteristics of splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT) in pediatric patients and its optimal treatment strategies are unknown.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of anticoagulant therapy for pediatric SVT.

Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched up to December 2021.

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The etiology of pediatric cancer associated thrombosis (CAT) is multifactorial and may reflect pro-coagulant alterations of the hemostatic system induced by presence of cancer itself or by therapeutic chemotherapy, tumor mass effects, tumor thrombi, and inherited thrombophilia. Age, diagnosis of hematological malignancy and presence of a central venous line significantly increase the risk of thrombosis. With over 80% cure rates of childhood cancer, strategies for prevention as well as for early diagnosis and optimal treatment of (thromboembolism) TE in children with malignancies are of major importance.

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Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is rare among pediatric patients. The diagnosis of HIT depends upon clinical decision tools to assess its pretest probability, supported by laboratory evidence of anti-platelet factor 4 (anti-PF4)/heparin antibodies.

Aims: To compare the use of the 4Ts score clinical decision tool, clinical characteristics, and laboratory findings between pediatric and adult patients with suspected HIT.

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Article Synopsis
  • In patients with inherited bleeding disorders, managing the risk of thrombus formation while also addressing bleeding complications is a complex challenge.
  • Current pediatric guidelines lack specific recommendations for treating thrombus in the context of bleeding disorders.
  • This text presents a case series of four children with bleeding disorders and cerebral sinus venous thrombosis, highlighting their treatment strategies and outcomes.
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This is the first study examining real-life data of pediatric cancer patients treated with rivaroxaban. Children with thrombocytopenia and high bleeding risk were excluded from previous clinical trials. Data regarding the safety and efficacy of rivaroxaban in pediatric cancer-associated thrombosis are scarce.

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Background: Rare bleeding disorders (RBD) are inherited coagulopathies, whose hemostatic control is based upon replacement therapy. Marstacimab (PF-06741086) is a human monoclonal IgG that targets the Kunitz2 domain of tissue factor pathway inhibitor [TFPI]. Marstacimab is currently in development for bleeding prophylaxis in patients with hemophilia.

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Invasive Fusarium species infections in immunocompromised patients occur predominantly in those with hematological malignancies. Survival rates of 20−40% were reported in adults, but data in children are limited. Our retrospective, nationwide multicenter study of invasive fusariosis in pediatric hematology/oncology and stem cell transplant (SCT) patients identified twenty-two cases.

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Background: Factor XI (FXI) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive bleeding disorder. Only scarce publications address its clinical features in children. The increased prevalence of FXI deficiency in Israel enabled data collection for this large multicenter cohort study.

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Emicizumab (Hemlibra™) is approved for prophylaxis of hemophilia A (HA) patients. The HAVEN studies addressed bleeding reduction in emicizumab-treated patients, but real-world data on bleeding patterns during emicizumab therapy are lacking. We aimed to compare the occurrence of breakthrough bleeding at different time points, starting from emicizumab initiation.

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Introduction: Hemophilia A (HA) is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by factor VIII (FVIII) deficiency or dysfunction due to F8 gene mutations. HA carriers are usually asymptomatic because their FVIII levels correspond to approximately half of the concentration found in healthy individuals. However, in rare cases, a carrier may exhibit symptoms of moderate to severe HA primarily due to skewed inactivation of her non-hemophilic X chromosome.

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 Very little is known regarding reproductive choices, pregnancy, and delivery of women with moderate to severe hemophilia. Our aim was to describe our experience with three hemophiliac women and their journey to achieve motherhood.  Medical charts of women with moderate to severe hemophilia A treated at our center were evaluated.

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Introduction: Real-world data on prophylaxis of severe haemophilia A (HA) patients treated by emicizumab are scarce.

Aim: To study the efficacy and safety of longitudinal emicizumab prophylaxis and assess laboratory monitoring correlations in a large patient cohort.

Methods: HA patients with and without FVIII inhibitors, initiating emicizumab prophylaxis, were prospectively enrolled.

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