Variant spectrum of PIEZO1 and KCNN4 in Japanese patients with dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis.

Hereditary stomatocytosis (HSt) is a type of congenital hemolytic anemia caused by abnormally increased cation permeability of erythrocyte membranes. Dehydrated HSt (DHSt) is the most common subtype of HSt and is diagnosed based on clinical and laboratory findings related to erythrocytes. PIEZO1 and KCNN4 have been recognized as causative genes, and many related variants have been reported. We analyzed the genomic background of 23 patients from 20 Japanese families suspected of having DHSt using a target capture sequence and identified pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants of PIEZO1 or KCNN4 in 12 families.

Analysis of factors associated with development of Bacille Calmette-Guérin inoculation site change in patients with Kawasaki disease.

Objective The present study was performed to identify factors associated with a Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) inoculation site change in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD). Methods Among patients who had received BCG vaccination and treatment for KD at our hospital from 2005 through 2016, 177 patients born in 2005 through 2016 were enrolled. The patients were divided into those with (n = 83, change group) and without (n = 94, no-change group) a BCG site change, and the patient demographics, clinical severity, blood examination results, and echocardiographic findings were compared between the two groups. Results The change group was younger at onset and had a shorter interval from vaccination to onset. A BCG site change was observed in patients who developed the onset of KD symptoms from 31 to 806 days after BCG vaccination. Multivariate analysis showed that the interval from vaccination was closely and positively associated with the BCG site change (hazard ratio = 0.995, 95% confidence interval = 0.993-0.997). Conclusion A BCG site change in patients with KD is most closely associated with the interval from BCG vaccination to onset.

A Case of Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Complicated with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Rescued by Cord Blood Transplantation with Reduced-intensity Conditioning.

　We diagnosed a female infant with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) who was refractory to conventional chemotherapy. She showed refractory inflammation that was complicated with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) during LCH chemotherapy; therefore, we changed the protocol to HLH2004 (dexamethasone, cyclosporine A and VP16). However, there were no signs of hematological recovery. We therefore performed cord blood transplantation with reduced-intensity conditioning, and she achieved complete remission for over 2 years. As salvage therapy for refractory LCH, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may be a good therapeutic choice, especially when LCH is complicated with HLH.

Gene expression analysis of hypersensitivity to mosquito bite, chronic active EBV infection and NK/T-lymphoma/leukemia.

The human herpes virus, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), is a known oncogenic virus and plays important roles in life-threatening T/NK-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (T/NK-cell LPD) such as hypersensitivity to mosquito bite (HMB), chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV), and NK/T-cell lymphoma/leukemia. During the clinical courses of HMB and CAEBV, patients frequently develop malignant lymphomas and the diseases passively progress sequentially. In the present study, gene expression of CD16(-)CD56(+)-, EBV(+) HMB, CAEBV, NK-lymphoma, and NK-leukemia cell lines, which were established from patients, was analyzed using oligonucleotide microarrays and compared to that of CD56brightCD16dim/- NK cells from healthy donors. Principal components analysis showed that CAEBV and NK-lymphoma cells were relatively closely located, indicating that they had similar expression profiles. Unsupervised hierarchal clustering analyses of microarray data and gene ontology analysis revealed specific gene clusters and identified several candidate genes responsible for disease that can be used to discriminate each category of NK-LPD and NK-cell lymphoma/leukemia.

Two Relapsed Stage III Childhood Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Patients with NPM-ALK Fusion in Bone Marrow from Initial Diagnosis.

Childhood anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) accounts for approx. 10-30% of cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and the ALCL99 study reported 60-75 disease-free survival; however, a relatively high relapse rate was observed (25-30% ). We report 2 patients with Stage III ALCL who relapsed 6-18 months after the end of ALCL99 chemotherapy. A retrospective molecular analysis identified the nucleophosmin (NPM)-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion gene in the first diagnostic bone marrow samples taken from both patients. However, antibodies against the ALK protein appeared to be relatively low in the serum of both patients (×100 and ×750). An increase in chemotherapy intensity may be beneficial if Stage III ALCL patients are shown to be NPM-ALK chimera-positive in the first diagnostic bone marrow sample.

A Long-term Survivor after Congenital Acute Myeloid Leukemia with t(8 ; 16)(p11 ; p13).

The treatment of patients with congenital leukemia is difficult and often results in a poor prognosis. We present here the case of a female child with congenital acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with t(8 ; 16) (p11 ; p13) who received chemotherapy and survived for more than 10 years without relapse. A novel MOZ-CBP chimera was found in her diagnostic sample. Although adult AML patients with MOZ-CBP have mainly been reported as having therapy-related AML and showed poor prognoses, the present case supports the idea that AML with MOZ-CBP in the pediatric population might show better prognoses.

Adults with germline CBL mutation complicated with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia at infancy.

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) appears to be a life-threatening disease and showed poor prognosis even after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) because of high relapse rate. On the other hand, recent molecular analysis revealed the heterogeneity of JMML. Here we report that two JMML patients survived >20 years without HSCT and both patients had uniparental disomy of 11q23 where CBL is located without the phenomenon found in neither Noonan syndrome nor Noonan syndrome-like disorder. We think that some JMML patients with CBL mutation might show the good prognosis in later life after remission of JMML.

Persistent clonal chromosomal abnormalities in a chronic myeloid leukemia patient.

Clonal cytogenetic abnormalities (CCA) in Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative cells have been reported in a small population of adult chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients during the clinical course, but CCA in pediatric CML patients are rarely reported. We herein report the case of an 8-year-old boy from the onset of CML. Although he had relapse after unrelated bone marrow transplantation when 9 years old, he has since been in complete molecular response on imatinib mesylate treatment. Surprisingly, various CCA have been observed in this patient, including several reciprocal chromosomal translocations in Ph-negative cells for >12 years. Although dysplasia in the bone marrow cells was identified, no overt transformation to myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia has been observed. The cause of the CCA remains unknown in this patient, and careful observation is required.

Japanese family with congenital factor VII deficiency.

Congenital factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance. The present female patient was diagnosed with congenital FVII deficiency because of low hepaplastin test (HPT), although vitamin K was given. Heterozygous p.A191T mutation was detected in the peripheral blood, and the same mutation was also found in the mother and sister. To the best of our knowledge, this is the fourth reported case of p.A191T mutation of FVII in the literature and the first to be reported in Japan. FVII coagulation activity (FVII:C) in asymptomatic heterozygous carriers is mildly reduced. Therefore, some patients may not be accurately diagnosed with congenital FVII deficiency. In infants with low HPT without vitamin K deficiency, congenital FVII deficiency should be considered.

ABL kinase mutation and relapse in 4 pediatric Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases.

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib mesylate (IM) revolutionized the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph-ALL), which had showed poor prognosis before the dawn of IM treatment. However, if Ph-ALL patients showed IM resistance due to ABL kinase mutation, second-generation TKI, dasatinib or nilotinib, was recommended. We treated 4 pediatric Ph-ALL patients with both IM and bone marrow transplantation (BMT); however, 3 relapsed. We retrospectively examined the existence of ABL kinase mutation using PCR and direct sequencing methods, but there was no such mutation in all 4 diagnostic samples. Interestingly, two relapsed samples from patients who were not treated with IM before relapse did not show ABL kinase mutation and IM was still effective even after relapse. On the other hand, one patient who showed resistance to 3 TKI acquired dual ABL kinase mutations, F359C at the IM-resistant phase and F317I at the dasatinib-resistant phase, simultaneously. In summary, Ph-ALL patients relapsed with or without ABL kinase mutation. Furthermore, ABL kinase mutation was only found after IM treatment, so an IM-resistant clone might have been selected during the IM treatment and intensive chemotherapy. The appropriate combination of TKI and BMT must be discussed to cure Ph-ALL patients.

The link between response styles and major depression and anxiety disorders after child-loss.

Although several studies have indicated that persons with a high ruminative coping style experience higher depression after the loss of a loved one, the relationship between ruminative coping and the occurrence of clinical depression and anxiety disorders after a loss has not been thoroughly investigated. This study investigated the relationship between response styles (ruminative coping v distractive coping) and the onset of major depression and anxiety disorders in a sample of parents who had experienced sudden child-loss (N = 106). The incidence of major depression after the loss of a child was very high (69%). After controlling for demographic variables and psychiatric history, ruminative coping was significantly associated with the onset of major depression, as defined by DSM-IV, but not with the onset of anxiety disorders. Thus ruminative coping after the loss of a child appears to be a risk factor specifically for major depression.