Risk determinants for catheter-associated blood stream infections in children and young adults with cancer.

Background: Catheter-associated blood stream infections (CABSI) are frequent complications encountered with cancer treatment. In order to understand which factors might predispose to CABSIs in children and young adults, we evaluated risk for infection in association with tumor type, catheter type, and setting of occurrence.

Methods: All pediatric oncology patients having a central venous catheter (CVC) with a tunneled external (TE) or totally implantable design (TID) were prospectively followed for the occurrence of a CABSI for 12 months.

Hypomorphic mutations in the gene encoding a key Fanconi anemia protein, FANCD2, sustain a significant group of FA-D2 patients with severe phenotype.

FANCD2 is an evolutionarily conserved Fanconi anemia (FA) gene that plays a key role in DNA double-strand-type damage responses. Using complementation assays and immunoblotting, a consortium of American and European groups assigned 29 patients with FA from 23 families and 4 additional unrelated patients to complementation group FA-D2. This amounts to 3%-6% of FA-affected patients registered in various data sets.

Acute changes in cortical excitability in the cortex contralateral to focal intracerebral hemorrhage in the swine.

Injury to the cerebral cortex results in functional deficits not only within the vicinity of the lesion but also in remote brain regions sharing neuronal connections with the injured site. To understand the electrophysiological basis of this phenomenon, we evaluated the effects of a focal intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) on cortical excitability in a remote, functionally connected brain region. Cortical excitability was assessed by measuring the somatic evoked potential (SEP) elicited by electrical stimulation of the swine snout, which is somatotopically represented in the rostrum area of the primary somatosensory (SI) cortex.