Graft-versus-host disease after anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: a transplant complications and paediatric diseases working parties joint EBMT study.

In patients diagnosed with B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) or B-non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) relapsing after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT), it is a standard practice to perform anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. When collected from the patient after allo-HCT, the produced CAR-T cells are likely to be donor T-cell-derived, creating unknown safety risks due to their potential allo-reactivity. We therefore performed an EBMT registry-based study on the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in this setting.

Biomarker-based prediction of sinus rhythm in atrial fibrillation patients: the EAST-AFNET 4 biomolecule study.

Background And Aims: In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), recurrent AF and sinus rhythm during follow-up are determined by interactions between cardiovascular disease processes and rhythm control therapy. Predictors of attaining sinus rhythm at follow-up are not well known.

Methods: To quantify the interaction between cardiovascular disease processes and rhythm outcomes, 14 biomarkers reflecting AF-related cardiovascular disease processes in 1586 patients in the EAST-AFNET 4 biomolecule study (71 years old, 45% women) were quantified at baseline.

Nocturia and obstructive sleep apnoea.

Nocturia, the need to urinate at night, is a common symptom in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Continuous positive airway pressure treatment can reduce nocturia in some patients, but the underlying mechanisms are complex and not fully understood. OSA affects the autonomic nervous system, oxidative stress and endothelial damage.

Blood-based cardiometabolic phenotypes in atrial fibrillation and their associated risk: EAST-AFNET 4 biomolecule study.

Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) and concomitant cardiometabolic disease processes interact and combine to lead to adverse events, such as stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death. Circulating biomolecules provide quantifiable proxies for cardiometabolic disease processes. The aim of this study was to test whether biomolecule combinations can define phenotypes in patients with AF.

Haploidentical transplantation in primary refractory/relapsed secondary vs de novo AML: from the ALWP/EBMT.

We compared the outcomes of haploidentical stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) with posttransplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy) in 719 patients with primary refractory (PR) or first relapse (Rel) secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML; n = 129) vs those with de novo AML (n = 590), who received HSCT between 2010 and 2022. A higher percentage of patients with sAML vs de novo AML had PR disease (73.6% vs 58.

Sarcopenia diagnosed by ultrasound-assessed quadriceps muscle thickness and handgrip strength predicts mortality in patients on hemodialysis.

Background: Estimation of muscle mass is a pivotal component in the diagnosis of protein-energy wasting and sarcopenia. While bioimpedance spectroscopy is a widely  accepted technique for the assessment of lean tissue related to the diagnosis of sarcopenia, to date skeletal muscle ultrasound (US) has not gained full acceptance for this purpose. The aim of this study was to assess the predictive value for mortality of the indexed thickness of the quadriceps vastus intermedius, as measured by US, compared to lean tissue index as estimated by bioimpedance spectroscopy, both combined with handgrip strength in a group of patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) on maintenance hemodialysis (HD).

Impact of post-transplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy)-based prophylaxis in matched sibling donor allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome: a retrospective study on behalf of the Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the EBMT.

We retrospectively compared outcomes of 404 MDS patients undergoing 1st matched sibling donor allo-HCT receiving either PTCy-based (n = 66) or other "conventional prophylaxis" (n = 338; mostly calcineurin inhibitor + methotrexate or MMF). Baseline characteristics were balanced, except for higher use of myeloablative regimens in the PTCy group (52.3% vs.

Pneumocystis Pneumonia After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Case-Control Study on Epidemiology and Risk Factors on Behalf of the Infectious Diseases Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is a life-threatening complication after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). However, allo-HCT procedures have evolved toward older patients, unrelated donors, and reduced-intensity conditioning, possibly modifying the risks. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), widely used nowadays, is more sensitive than microscopy diagnostic methods.

Etoposide plus cytarabine versus cyclophosphamide or melphalan in busulfan-based preparative regimens for autologous stem cell transplantation in adults with acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission: a study from the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the EBMT.

We retrospectively compared the impact of the conditioning regimen in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission (CR1) that received high-dose myeloablative chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) from 2010 to 2021 with either high-dose cytarabine, etoposide and busulfan (BEA), busulfan with cyclophosphamide (BUCY) or busulfan and high-dose melphalan (BUMEL) registered in the EBMT database. Overall 1560 patients underwent ASCT, of which 156, 1143 and 261 received BEA, BUCY and BUMEL, respectively. Compared to BUCY and BUMEL, BEA patients were younger (p < 0.

The spine intra-abdominal pressure (SIAP) trial. A prospective, observational, single arm, monocenter study looking at the evolutions of the IAP prior, during and after spine surgery.

Background And Aims: Both anaesthesiologists and spine surgeons consider the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) as an important peri-operative factor affected by patient positioning. We assessed the change in IAP caused by using a thoraco pelvic support (inflatable prone support, IPS) with the subject under general anesthesia. The IAP was measured before, during and immediately after surgery.

Protein Biomarkers of New-Onset Heart Failure: Insights From the Heart Omics and Ageing Cohort, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, and the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: We sought to identify protein biomarkers of new-onset heart failure (HF) in 3 independent cohorts (HOMAGE cohort [Heart Omics and Ageing], ARIC study [Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities], and FHS [Framingham Heart Study]) and assess if and to what extent they improve HF risk prediction compared to clinical risk factors alone.

Methods: A nested case-control design was used with cases (incident HF) and controls (without HF) matched on age and sex within each cohort. Plasma concentrations of 276 proteins were measured at baseline in ARIC (250 cases/250 controls), FHS (191/191), and HOMAGE cohort (562/871).

The European landscape on allogeneic haematopoeietic cell transplantation in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia between 2009 and 2019: a perspective from the Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the EBMT.

Allogeneic transplantation (allo-HCT) is a curative treatment in CLL whose efficacy including the most severe forms had led to the 2006 EBMT recommendations. The advent after 2014 of targeted therapies has revolutionized CLL management, allowing prolonged control to patients who have failed immunochemotherapy and/or have TP53 alterations. We analysed the pre COVID pandemic 2009-2019 EBMT registry.

NLRP3 Attenuates Intraocular Inflammation by Inhibiting AIM2-Mediated Pyroptosis Through the Phosphorylated Salt-Inducible Kinase 1/Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Transcription Factor 1 Pathway.

Objective: The NLRP3 inflammasome has been shown to be involved in the development of uveitis, but the exact mechanism remains elusive. This study was undertaken to explore the role of NLRP3 in the development of uveitis.

Methods: First, Nlrp3-deficient mice were used to study the role of NLRP3 in experimental autoimmune diseases, such as experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

The evolution of arch surgery: Frozen elephant trunk or conventional elephant trunk?

Treatment of aortic arch aneurysms and dissections require highly complex surgical procedures with devastating complications and mortality rates. Currently, repair of the complete arch until the proximal descending thoracic aorta consists of a two-stage procedure, called elephant trunk (ET) technique, or a single stage a single-stage technique referred to as frozen elephant trunk (FET). There is conflicting evidence about the perioperative results of ET in comparison with FET.