Prediction of Thiopurine Metabolite Levels Based on Haematological and Biochemical Parameters.

Objectives: Therapeutic drug monitoring of thiopurine erythrocyte levels is not available in all centers and it usually requires quite a long time to obtain the results. The aims of this study were to build a model predicting low levels of 6-thioguanine and 6-methylmercaptopurine in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and to build a model to predict nonadherence in patients treated with azathioprine (AZA).

Methods: The study consisted of 332 observations in 88 pediatric IBD patients.

Changes in serum hepcidin levels in children with inflammatory bowel disease during anti-inflammatory treatment.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare changes in serum hepcidin levels in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease during therapy and correlate them with markers of iron metabolism, inflammation and type of treatment.

Methods: Children with newly diagnosed Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) were included in this longitudinal study. Blood and stool samples were collected to assess levels of serum hepcidin and markers of iron metabolism parameters and inflammation.

Pharyngeal perforation after blunt cervical trauma in child.

Pharyngeal perforation caused by non-penetrating cervical trauma is an extremely rare clinical entity both in adults and children. Data concerning management of this type of injury are quite rare in surgical and even scarcer in pediatric literature. Since delay in treatment may be associated with life-threatening complications, prompt diagnosis coupled with appropriate therapy is essential for achieving favorable clinical outcome.

Combination of prednisolone and low dosed dexamethasone exhibits greater in vitro antileukemic activity than equiactive dose of prednisolone and overcomes prednisolone drug resistance in acute childhood lymphoblastic leukemia.

Introduction: Glucocorticoids, particularly prednisone/ prednisolone and dexamethasone, play a prominent role in the treatment of pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia due to their ability to induce apoptosis in susceptible cells. Current therapeutic protocols use prednisone for both the prophase and the induction phase of the therapy because the greater antileukemic activity of dexamethasone is compromised by its high frequency of serious adverse reactions.

Aim: To compare, for the first time, the in vitro antileukemic activity of prednisolone alone to that of a combination of prednisolone and dexamethasone using dexamethasone at a very low and presumably safe dosage (1/50 w/w).

Repeated chemosensitivity testing in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

Epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is a highly chemosensitive tumor, but most patients with advanced EOC initially responding to first-line chemotherapy will eventually relapse. Chemosensitivity testing may offer an opportunity for the optimal selection of chemotherapeutic agents for individual patients. In the present retrospective analysis we have examined the changes in chemosensitivity profiles during the course of the disease.