Risk index score for bacteremia in febrile neutropenic episodes in children with malignancies.

Purpose: To prospectively determine risk factors for bacteremia in febrile neutropenic children with malignancies.

Patients And Methods: We studied 199 episodes of febrile neutropenia in 80 children with malignancies, treated by conventional chemotherapy for a 4-year period (2000 - 2004). A standardized computer database with a set of variables for each febrile neutropenic episode was used.

Pseudomembranous necrotizing tracheobronchitis caused by Aspergillus spp--contribution of one case with acute myeloid leukemia.

Acute tracheobronchitis is a rare clinical manifestation of respiratory tract invasive aspergillosis, sporadically reported in patients with hematological malignancies against the background of conventional chemotherapy. The authors report on a case of pseudomembranous necrotizing form of histologically proven tracheobronchitis, caused by Aspergillus spp in the time of induction chemotherapy in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia. The clinical evolution is gradual: from mild non-specific manifestations of acute tracheobronchitis against the background of a prolonged fever unaffected by antibiotic therapy to the onset of severe acute respiratory insufficiency and unilateral bronchial obstruction syndrome.

Interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, and C-reactive protein in febrile neutropenia in children with malignant diseases.

Aim: To compare serum levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and interleukin-10 in bacteremic and non-bacteremic episodes of febrile neutropenia in children with malignant diseases, and determine their changes and correlation with C-reactive protein (CRP).

Material And Methods: Between January 2003 and June 2004, we examined 41 episodes of febrile neutropenia in 24 children with malignant diseases who were receiving polychemotherapy. C-reactive protein was measured at the onset of febrile episodes and on days 3 and 5 from beginning of therapy.

West's syndrome--etiology, treatment and prognosis.

Forty two children with West's syndrome who had been treated in the Clinic of Paediatrics, Higher Medical Institute, Plovdiv in the last 10 years were entered into the present study. Analysis is made of the aetiology of the disease, the results of treatment and development of the children. All children were followed up from 6 months to 10 years.

Thalassemia intermedia in an infant.

We present a case of a two year old infant with jaundice in the neonatal period, anemia and splenohepatomegaly. Hemoglobin electrophoresis of the child and siblings revealed double heterozygosity of Lepore/beta thalassemia in the child and father, and heterozygous beta-thalassemia in the uncle. Structural variants giving rise to thalassemia phenotype are discussed.