Cardiovascular Considerations in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Cardiac dysfunction is a serious adverse effect of cancer therapies that can interfere with quality of life and impact long-term survival in patients with cancer. Hematopoietic cell transplantation is a potentially curative therapy for many advanced hematologic malignancies and bone marrow failure syndromes, however is associated with several short- and long-term adverse effects, including importantly, cardiovascular toxicities. The goal of this review article is to describe the cardiovascular events that may develop before, during, and after hematopoietic cell transplantation, review risk factors for short- and long-term cardiovascular toxicities, discuss approaches to cardiovascular risk stratification and evaluation, and highlight the research gaps in the consideration of cardiovascular disease in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Hypoalbuminemia in children with cancer treated with chemotherapy.

Background: Hypoalbuminemia is a well-recognized finding associated with cancer, but its prevalence and prognostic significance have not been well studied in children with cancer.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypoalbuminemia prior to starting chemotherapy in children with cancer and its association with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).

Design/method: We performed a single institution, IRB-approved, retrospective review of pediatric oncology patients diagnosed between 1998 and 2012.

Weight Bias in Pediatric Inpatient Care.

Objective: Weight bias can influence medical care but has not been studied in the pediatric inpatient setting. We will quantify implicit and explicit weight bias of pediatric inpatient providers and qualitatively explore providers' attitudes toward children with obesity and patient/family perceptions of weight bias in the hospital.

Methods: We performed a mixed-methods study including semistructured key informant interviews and validated tests for implicit (Implicit Association Test) and explicit (Crandall's Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire) bias with pediatric hospitalists, residents, and acute care nurses.