Veno-occlusive disease in pediatric patients affected by Wilms tumor.

Background: Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a rare and potentially severe complication of chemotherapy. We describe five patients who developed VOD after chemotherapy for Wilms tumor (WT) and evaluate the role of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and defibrotide for diagnosis and therapy of VOD, respectively.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-five patients treated from 2002 to 2009 for WT were eligible.

Safety and efficacy of a caspofungin-based combination therapy for treatment of proven or probable aspergillosis in pediatric hematological patients.

Background: Fungal infections are diagnosed increasingly often in patients affected by hematological diseases and their mortality has remained high. The recent development of new antifungal drugs gives the clinician the possibility to assess the combination of antifungal drugs with in-vitro or in animal-model synergistic effect.

Methods: We analyzed retrospectively the safety and efficacy of caspofungin-based combination therapy in 40 children and adolescents, most of them were being treated for a malignant disease, who developed invasive aspergillosis (IA) between November 2002 and November 2005.

A simplified method of antibiotic lock therapy for Broviac-Hickman catheters using a CLC 2000 connector device.

Introduction: We report a simplified method of performing antibiotic lock therapy (ALT) based on a disposable central venous catheter (CVC) hub device, CLC 2000, enabling an open-ended CVC to be flushed with normal saline solution without heparin.

Methods: ALT was administered through a CLC 2000 connector for recurrent CVC-bloodstream infections (BSI) by the same organism in four patients and for CVC colonization in five patients.

Results: The antibiotic concentration obtained in the lumen of the CVC with ALT was 2,500-fold higher than the minimum inhibiting concentration of targeted bacteria for patients treated with vancomycin, 2,500-80,000-fold higher for patients treated with teicoplanin, and 10,000-fold higher for the patient treated with amikacin.

SECONDARY LEIOMYOSARCOMAS: A Report of 4 Cases.

Survivors of childhood cancer risk developing second malignant neoplasms (SMN). a small proportion of SMNs is represented by soft tissue sarcoma (STS), including leiomyosarcoma. The files of the STS Italian Cooperative Group (ICG) were reviewed and 4 patients with secondary leiomyosarcoma were identified, only two of them still alive.

A case of vinblastine overdose managed with plasma exchange.

Severe, life-threatening toxicity may be caused by errors in chemotherapy administration. To contribute with some useful information on drug-induced toxic effects and salvage therapy, we report a case of vinblastine (VBL) overdose (25 mg/m(2)) in a 12-year-old child affected by an end-stage metastatic primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Early signs of toxicity were acute, severe musculoskeletal pain and fever.

Effect of tartaric acid and dietary fibre from sun-dried raisins on colonic function and on bile acid and volatile fatty acid excretion in healthy adults.

Sun-dried raisins are a source of dietary fibre and tartaric acid. The effects of tartaric acid on colon function have not been the focus of extensive research. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of dietary fibre and tartaric acid from sun-dried raisins on colon function and on faecal bile acid and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) excretion in healthy adults.

Effect of sun-dried raisins on bile acid excretion, intestinal transit time, and fecal weight: a dose-response study.

The effect of increasing doses of sun-dried raisins (SDR) on intestinal transit time (TT), fecal weight (FW), and fecal bile acids (FBA) was investigated in 16 healthy adults (6 men and 10 women). In three cycles of 2 weeks each, subjects consumed 84, 126, or 168 g/day of SDR. Four-day fecal collections were performed during the second week of each cycle, and TT, FW, and FBA were measured.