British journal of haematology
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Philadelphia-chromosome acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (Ph+ ALL) is a subgroup of ALL with very high risk of treatment failure. We report here the results of the Sociedad Española de Hematología y Oncología Pediátricas (SEHOP/SHOP) in paediatric Ph+ ALL treated with intermediate-dose imatinib concurrent with intensive chemotherapy. The toxicities and outcome of these patients were compared with historical controls not receiving imatinib. ⋯ Seventeen of 27 and 15 of 16 patients in the non-imatinib and imatinib cohort, respectively, underwent HSCT in CR1. With a median follow-up of 109 and 39months for the non-imatinib and imatinib cohorts, the 3-year event-free survival (EFS) was 29·6% and 78·7%, respectively (P=0·01). These results show that, compared to historical controls, intermediate dose of imatinib given concomitantly with chemotherapy and followed by allogeneic HSCT markedly improved early EFS in paediatric Ph+ ALL.
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The enormous burden of life-threatening illnesses, including cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and others, such as sickle cell disease, associated with physical and psychosocial suffering explains the illustrious need for palliative care in developing countries. Despite the demonstrated need, current provision of palliative care in Africa is at best limited, and at worst non-existent. ⋯ There is a general lack of government policies that recognize palliative care as an essential component of health care and there is inadequate training for both health care professionals and the general public about palliative care. A public health strategy, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), offers the best approach for translating knowledge and skills into evidence-based, cost-effective interventions that can reach everyone in need of palliative care in developing countries.
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Clinical Trial
Short-term warfarin reversal for elective surgery--using low-dose intravenous vitamin K: safe, reliable and convenient*.
Peri-procedural management of warfarin reflects an intricate balance between the restoration of haemostasis and appropriate thromboprophylaxis. This prospective single-arm study assessed the safety and efficacy of a convenient schedule, incorporating low-dose intravenous vitamin K (vitK(IV) ) for short-term warfarin reversal prior to elective surgery, as well as vitK-dependent factor levels (vitK-Factors) and International Normalized Ratio (INR) pre- and post-vitK(IV). One seventy eight patients on long-term warfarin received 3mg vitK(IV) 12-18 h pre-procedure with no adverse reactions. 167/178 (94%) achieved an INR≤1·5 post-vitK(IV) on the day of surgery, while all achieved INR≤1·7. ⋯ VitK(IV) near normalized all vitK-Factors, with a uniform pattern of depletion and repletion in association with an increase and decrease in INR, respectively; and from the data, INR<1·5 correlated with vitK-Factors >0·30iu/ml. Low-dose vitK(IV) for short-term warfarin reversal was reliable and safe, and successfully lowered the INR to an acceptable level for planned surgery, with no excess of bleeding, thromboembolism, delayed discharge, or resistance to warfarin. The protocol was simple and convenient for both the patients and the healthcare institution.