Healthcare migration in Italian paediatric haematology-oncology centres belonging to AIEOP.

Background: In Italy, there is a network of centres headed by the Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (AIEOP) for the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric cancers on almost the entire national territory. Nevertheless, migration of patients in a hospital located in a region different from that of residence is a widespread habit, sometimes motivated by several reasons. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of migration of children with cancer to AIEOP centres in order to verify their optimal distribution throughout the national territory.

Childhood-onset Erdheim-Chester disease in the molecular era: clinical phenotypes and long-term outcomes of 21 patients.

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare histiocytic disorder that can present as a localized infiltration of foamy histiocytes or a multisystem disease that may be life-threatening. It is extremely rare in children. Pegoraro and colleagues present the clinical and molecular features of 21 patients with pediatric ECD through a large international collaboration, documenting that it resembles its adult counterpart, with similar molecular features and responses to agents targeting BRAF and MEK.

Restricted T-Cell Repertoire in the Epicardial Adipose Tissue of Non-ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients.

Aims: Human epicardial adipose tissue, a dynamic source of multiple bioactive factors, holds a close functional and anatomic relationship with the epicardial coronary arteries and communicates with the coronary artery wall through paracrine and vasocrine secretions. We explored the hypothesis that T-cell recruitment into epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) could be part of a specific antigen-driven response implicated in acute coronary syndrome onset and progression.

Methods And Results: We enrolled 32 NSTEMI patients and 34 chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and 12 mitral valve disease (MVD) patients undergoing surgery.

ALK-positive histiocytosis: a new clinicopathologic spectrum highlighting neurologic involvement and responses to ALK inhibition.

ALK-positive histiocytosis is a rare subtype of histiocytic neoplasm first described in 2008 in 3 infants with multisystemic disease involving the liver and hematopoietic system. This entity has subsequently been documented in case reports and series to occupy a wider clinicopathologic spectrum with recurrent KIF5B-ALK fusions. The full clinicopathologic and molecular spectra of ALK-positive histiocytosis remain, however, poorly characterized.

Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Microbiota: State of the Art.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, food-triggered, immune-mediated disease of the oesophagus, clinically characterized by symptoms referred to oesophagal dysfunction, and histologically defined by an eosinophil productive inflammation of the oesophagal mucosa, among other cell types. The involvement of an adaptive Th2-type response to food antigens in EoE was known since 2000; several cytokines and chemokines promote food-specific responses, during which local production of IgE, but also IgG4 derived from plasma cells in lamina propria of oesophagal mucosa might play an important role. Evidence pointing towards a possible role for the innate immunity in EoE has arisen recently.

Nurse Practitioner Management of a Blinatumomab Infusion Program: Impact on Patient Safety and Quality of Care.

The prognosis of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia can be improved with the use of monoclonal antibodies such as blinatumomab. Many studies discuss the management and treatment of symptoms; however, none of them describe practical complications related to the continuous infusion of blinatumomab, especially during home-based therapy. The purpose of this study is to describe the experience gained over 4 years in the management of pediatric patients undergoing therapy with blinatumomab in an Italian tertiary hospital.

The translational expression of ABCA2 and ABCA3 is a strong prognostic biomarker for multidrug resistance in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to study the correlation between the expressions of the and genes at the mRNA and protein levels in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the effects of this association on multidrug resistance (MDR).

Materials And Methods: Sixty-nine children with de novo ALL and 25 controls were enrolled in the study. Mononuclear cells were isolated from the bone marrow.