Pediatric blood & cancer
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Jun 2005
Use of alternative and complementary therapies in children with cancer.
The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) is becoming increasingly popular. Although considered beneficial by users, the potential for interaction or substitution with conventional treatment should not be overlooked by health care professionals. It is therefore important to gain insight into the prevalence and the factors related to the use of CAM. To establish the prevalence of use of CAM among children with cancer treated in a large pediatric hospital, describe the profile of use and factors related with use. As a secondary objective we aimed at measuring quality of life of the children aged 5 or more and compare the scores between users and non-users. ⋯ CAM is likely to be used by a wide variety of people. In our study, we found that about half of the children with cancer has used CAM in the 2 preceding months. No specific profile of CAM users emerged from this study. The high prevalence of CAM warrants further studies to better understand the reasons and consequences of CAM use particularly on quality of life.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Apr 2005
Late cardiac evaluation of children with solid tumors after anthracycline chemotherapy.
The therapeutic potential of anthracycline antibiotics is limited by their cardiotoxicity. Electrocardiography, exercise testing, and two-dimensional echocardiography are non-invasive techniques used in the follow-up of children for cardiotoxicity. Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are thought to be useful markers in the early detection of AC induced cardiomyopathy. ⋯ Our findings demonstrated that echocardiographic and biochemical abnormalities could be found even at low cumulative doses of AC antibiotics. The use of serial echocardiographic studies and plasma BNP determinations to identify high-risk patients for cardiotoxicity needs to be verified by additional studies.
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Pediatric blood & cancer · Jan 2005
Methemoglobinemia in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving dapsone for pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis: a correlation with cytochrome b5 reductase (Cb5R) enzyme levels.
Dapsone is commonly used for pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis in immunocompromised patients. Methemoglobinemia is a known complication of dapsone, but its true frequency and pathogenesis in childhood cancer patients are unknown. Additionally, practice guidelines for evaluation and management of dapsone-induced methemoglobinemia are not available. ⋯ Heterozygosity for Cb5R deficiency may pre-dispose to methemoglobinemia even on a thrice-weekly regimen of dapsone. Such individuals should avoid subsequent exposure to oxidant agents, if possible. Children with ALL tend to be symptomatic at low levels of metHb and may have delayed detection of methemoglobinemia. Hence, frequent monitoring of patients receiving dapsone is recommended. Monitoring guidelines for dapsone prophylaxis are proposed.