National registries of rare diseases in Europe: an overview of the current situation and experiences.

The European Union (EU) policy for healthcare requires the establishment of a system of European Reference Networks, union-wide information databases, and registries for rare diseases (RDs) based on shared criteria. In pursuing its goals, the 'Building Consensus and Synergies for the EU Registration of RD Patients in Europe' (EPIRARE) project convened a meeting with experts of the competent health authorities to discuss the role of national institutional RD patient registries in supporting EU patient registration and the room for international cooperation. With this aim, this paper comparatively analyses the current situation of national institutional RD registries in the EU.

Effects of macrophage-CSF on pulmonary-macrophage repopulation after bone marrow transplantation.

Pulmonary infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality in immunosuppressed patients after transplantation. After experimental irradiation and syngeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice, macrophages show reduced repopulation in the lung compared with that in other tissues. Macrophages are major microbicidal immune effector cells in host pulmonary defense.

You Can Control Asthma: evaluation of an asthma education program for hospitalized inner-city children.

A self-management education program was designed for staff nurses to offer children while they received medical care for asthma in the hospital. The program uses videotapes, written activity books and nurse discussion with the patient. Evaluation was conducted to assess program feasibility and impact.