Efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination and interferon-alpha-2b combination therapy versus interferon-alpha-2b monotherapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Background: Although interferon (IFN) has been approved in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in children, it is effective only in 30-40% of patients. In some studies it has been suggested that therapeutic use of anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine may be beneficial in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination and IFN-alpha-2b in combination and IFN-alpha-2b monotherapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Serum zinc as a factor predicting response to interferon-alpha2b therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Although it has been unclear why more than 50% of children with chronic hepatitis B virus infection do not respond to interferon therapy, in some instances resistance to interferon probably is caused by an inability to stimulate appropriately cellular immune responses to hepatitis B virus. It is known that immune integrity is tightly linked to zinc status. We examined the relationship between serum zinc levels and response to interferon (INF)-alpha therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Cyclosporin A plus prednisone treatment of steroid-sensitive frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome in children.

Recently, there have been numerous reports on the use of cyclosporin A (CyA) in children with nephrotic syndrome (NS). In this prospective study, we wanted to evaluate the efficacy of CyA together with prednisone therapy in children with steroid-sensitive frequently relapsing NS. A total of 11 children (7 boys, 4 girls) with steroid-sensitive NS were included in this study.

Left ventricular diastolic abnormalities in children with beta-thalassemia major: a Doppler echocardiographic study.

Left ventricular filling patterns were assessed by Doppler echocardiography in 63 beta-thalassemia major patients, aged for to 21 years, with no clinical evidence of congestive heart failure and 63 age- and sex-matched normal controls. The patients with beta-thalassemia major were divided into three age groups, namely four to nine years (6.8 +/- 1.

A comparison of different filters for white cell reduction.

Removal of white blood cells (WBCs) from blood components before transfusion by filters with at least 3 log10 depletion may prevent or delay leukocyte-associated transfusion reactions such as HLA alloimmunization, non-hemolytic febrile reactions, transmitted infections (e.g., CMV, HTLV-1), and immunomodulation.