Laboratory and clinical markers of HIV infection in a national haemophilia cohort treated with recombinant factor VIII concentrate. The Association of Hemophilia Clinic Directors of Canada.

Over an interval of approximately six months beginning in October 1993, most haemophilia A patients in Canada were switched from a plasma-derived intermediate-purity factor VIII concentrate (i.p. VIII) to a recombinant factor VIII (rVIII).

Effect of splenectomy on slowing human immunodeficiency virus disease progression.

Background: Lymphoreticular tissue is the most important site for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication in HIV-infected individuals.

Objective: To compare the long-term effect of splenectomy on survival and time to development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in subjects who had undergone splenectomy with subjects who had not undergone splenectomy.

Design: A cohort study with a follow-up of up to 13.

The Juvenile Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire--development of a new responsive index for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile spondyloarthritides.

Objective: To develop a disease specific measure of quality of life for application in children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile spondyloarthritides-the Juvenile Arthritis Quality of Life Questionnaire (JAQQ).

Methods: Patients and their parents were interviewed by a trained interviewer using a questionnaire focusing on physical function, psychosocial function, and general symptoms to determine the most appropriate items to include in the JAQQ. Respondents volunteered items and scored them for frequency of occurrence and importance.

Monocyte-macrophage (M-M) functions in asymptomatic hemophiliacs and supertransfused thalassemics.

Patients suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) succumb to opportunistic infections due to a generalized failure of their cell-mediated immune defenses. The monocyte-macrophage (M-M) system plays an important role in host defense against viruses, protozoa, mycobacteria, and tumours, all potentially involved in the terminal stages of AIDS. We studied M-M functions in 55 asymptomatic hemophiliacs, 20 supertransfused thalassemics, and 9 von Willebrand's syndrome patients over a period of 17 months to establish the part played by chronic repeated blood component transfusions on the macrophage defense system.