Development and Testing of Reduced Versions of the Manual Muscle Test-8 in Juvenile Dermatomyositis.

Objective: To develop and test shortened versions of the Manual Muscle Test-8 (MMT-8) in juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM).

Methods: Construction of reduced tools was based on a retrospective analysis of individual scores of MMT-8 muscle groups in 3 multinational datasets. The 4 and 6 most frequently impaired muscle groups were included in MMT-4 and MMT-6, respectively.

Prednisone versus prednisone plus ciclosporin versus prednisone plus methotrexate in new-onset juvenile dermatomyositis: a randomised trial.

Background: Most data for treatment of dermatomyositis and juvenile dermatomyositis are from anecdotal, non-randomised case series. We aimed to compare, in a randomised trial, the efficacy and safety of prednisone alone with that of prednisone plus either methotrexate or ciclosporin in children with new-onset juvenile dermatomyositis.

Methods: We did a randomised trial at 54 centres in 22 countries.

Evans Syndrome in Children: Long-Term Outcome in a Prospective French National Observational Cohort.

Evans syndrome (ES) is a rare autoimmune disorder whose long-term outcome is not well known. In France, a collaborative pediatric network set up via the National Rare Disease Plan now provides comprehensive clinical data in children with this disease. Patients aged less than 18 years at the initial presentation of autoimmune cytopenia have been prospectively included into a national observational cohort since 2004.

Growth deceleration in children treated with imatinib for chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Purpose: The aim is to study statural growth in a large cohort of children with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) treated with front-line imatinib.

Methods: Retrospective data from 81 children less than 18 years of age with CML identified in the French pediatric registry were analysed. Height was expressed as standard deviation score (SDS).

Impact of early molecular response in children with chronic myeloid leukemia treated in the French Glivec phase 4 study.

Studies in adults have shown that an early molecular response to imatinib predicts clinical outcome in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). We investigated the impact of the BCR-ABL1 transcript level measured 3 months after starting imatinib in a cohort of 40 children with CML. Children with a BCR-ABL1/ABL ratio higher than 10% at 3 months after the start of imatinib had a larger spleen size and a higher white blood cell count compared with those with BCR-ABL1/ABL ≤10%.

Development of primary early-onset colorectal cancers due to biallelic mutations of the FANCD1/BRCA2 gene.

Fanconi anaemia (FA) is characterized by progressive bone marrow failure, congenital anomalies, and predisposition to malignancy. In a minority of cases, FA results from biallelic FANCD1/BRCA2 mutations that are associated with early-onset leukaemia and solid tumours. Here, we describe the clinical and molecular features of a remarkable family presenting with multiple primary colorectal cancers (CRCs) without detectable mutations in genes involved in the Mendelian predisposition to CRCs.

Human RTEL1 deficiency causes Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome with short telomeres and genome instability.

Hoyeraal-Hreidarsson syndrome (HHS), a severe variant of dyskeratosis congenita (DC), is characterized by early onset bone marrow failure, immunodeficiency and developmental defects. Several factors involved in telomere length maintenance and/or protection are defective in HHS/DC, underlining the relationship between telomere dysfunction and these diseases. By combining whole-genome linkage analysis and exome sequencing, we identified compound heterozygous RTEL1 (regulator of telomere elongation helicase 1) mutations in three patients with HHS from two unrelated families.

Efficacy of vinblastine in central nervous system Langerhans cell histiocytosis: a nationwide retrospective study.

Background: Vinblastine (VBL) is the standard treatment for systemic Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), but little is known about its efficacy in central nervous system (CNS) mass lesions.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted. Twenty patients from the French LCH Study Group register met the inclusion criteria.

Imatinib is effective in children with previously untreated chronic myelogenous leukemia in early chronic phase: results of the French national phase IV trial.

Purpose: Imatinib is the standard of care in adults with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase (CP). Only a few studies to assess efficacy in children have been performed. We report on the results of the French prospective trial (ClinicalTrials.

Profiles and seasonal distribution of airborne fungi in indoor and outdoor environments at a French hospital.

A one-year prospective survey of fungal air contamination was conducted in outdoor air and inside two haematological units of a French hospital. Air was sampled with a portable Air System Impactor. During this period of survey, the mean viable fungal load was 122.

'Agranular CD4+ CD56+ hematodermic neoplasm' (blastic NK-cell lymphoma) originates from a population of CD56+ precursor cells related to plasmacytoid monocytes.

In 1999, we reported seven cases of an unusual hematologic malignancy with primary cutaneous presentation that appeared as a distinct clinicopathologic entity characterized by medium-sized tumor cells with a peculiar CD3- CD4+ CD56+ CD43+ HLA-DR+ cell surface phenotype. Because the origin of tumor cells was not clear and they exhibited a nonlineage-specific phenotype, we hypothesized that such tumors likely originated from hematologic-myeloid precursor cells and were tentatively assigned the designation "agranular CD4+ CD56+ hematodermic neoplasms." In the present study we report 14 cases (seven already reported and seven additional cases) of these tumors, and simultaneously we present now a rare population of cells that we have identified in the peripheral blood of healthy volunteers treated with Flt3 ligand.