Publications by authors named "Kristen Kurtz"

Purpose: Time to antibiotic administration (TTA) in <60 minutes for children with neutropenic fever presenting to an emergency room is associated with reduced incidence of sepsis and intensive care admission. As such, TTA is used as a national quality metric for pediatric oncology patients. At our center, in 2020, 19% of the hospitalized patients with a new fever encounter were receiving antibiotics in <60 minutes, prompting a multidisciplinary approach to reach a goal of >90% in all pediatric patients with cancer with a new fever.

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Recent studies suggest that chromosomal cohesin complex proteins are important in regulating hematopoiesis and may contribute to myeloid malignancies. To investigate the effects of perturbing the cohesin subunit protein RAD21 on normal hematopoiesis, we used conditional knockout (cKO) mouse models. While cohesin is vital for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function, Rad21 haploinsufficiency (Rad21Δ/+) led to distinct hematopoietic phenotypes.

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Unlabelled: In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes sustain leukemic identity by driving high levels of MYC. Previous studies have implicated the hematopoietic transcription factor PU.1 (SPI1) as an important target of SWI/SNF inhibition, but PU.

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Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous hematologic malignancy. Extensive sequencing efforts have mapped the genomic landscape of adult and pediatric AML revealing a number of biologically and prognostically relevant driver lesions. Beyond identifying recurrent genetic aberrations, it is of critical importance to fully delineate the complex mechanisms by which they contribute to the initiation and evolution of disease to ultimately facilitate the development of targeted therapies.

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Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) is a rare disorder characterized by developmental delay, short stature, dysmorphic facies and skeletal abnormalities. RSTS has been linked to a variety of malignant and benign tumors, but the frequency and characteristics of RSTS-related neoplasms remain unclear. We describe a unique case of near haploid B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) in a 6-year-old girl with RSTS who harbors a likely pathogenic variant in .

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IKAROS family zinc finger 1 (IKZF1) alterations represent a diverse group of genetic lesions that are associated with an increased risk of relapse in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Due to the heterogeneity of concomitant lesions, it remains unclear how IKZF1 abnormalities directly affect cell function and therapy resistance, and whether their consideration as a prognostic indicator is valuable in improving outcome. CRISPR/Cas9 strategies were used to engineer multiple panels of isogeneic lymphoid leukemia cell lines with a spectrum of IKZF1 lesions to measure changes in chemosensitivity, gene expression, cell cycle, and in vivo engraftment that can be linked to loss of IKAROS protein.

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Tatton-Brown-Rahman syndrome (TBRS) is an overgrowth disorder caused by germline heterozygous mutations in the DNA methyltransferase DNMT3A. DNMT3A is a critical regulator of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation and somatic DNMT3A mutations are frequent in hematologic malignancies and clonal hematopoiesis. Yet, the impact of constitutive DNMT3A mutation on hematopoiesis in TBRS is undefined.

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Objectives: The objective of this study was to provide an updated review of survival for pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy as well as characterize the demographics, clinical variables, and complications associated with mortality.

Design: Retrospective database review of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Registry from 1990 to 2019.

Setting: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation centers reporting to Extracorporeal Life Support Organization.

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