Egg oral immunotherapy in children (SEICAP I): Daily or weekly desensitization pattern.

BACKGROUND: Studies are required before incorporating egg oral immunotherapy (OIT) into clinical practice. The Spanish Society of Pediatric Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SEICAP) conducted a multicenter, randomized controlled study assessing the effectiveness and safety of the OIT using pasteurized egg white (PEW) in egg-allergic children. METHODS: One hundred and one egg-allergic children (6-9 years) were randomized for 1 year: 25 to an egg-free-diet (CG) and 76 to OIT (target dose 3.3 g PEW proteins), PI (30% weekly plus 5% daily increments) or PII (only 30% weekly increments) buildup patterns. Egg skin prick test, sIgE and sIgG4 serum levels, PEW double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), and dosing adverse reactions (DARs) were evaluated in all patients from inclusion (T0) until completing 1 year of follow-up (T12). At T12, egg-allergic control patients could start OIT. The effectiveness and safety of OIT and the effect of the buildup pattern were analyzed. RESULTS: At T12, 4/25 (16.0%) CG patients passed the PEW DBPCFC vs 64/76 (84.2%) OIT that reached total desensitization (P = 0.000); 12 egg-allergic control patients started OIT. Finally, 72/88 (81.81%) patients reached total desensitization, 96.15% PI vs 75.80% on PII (P = 0.01). Induction period (121.12 ± 91.43, median 98.00 days) was longer in patients on PII buildup pattern, and those with allergic asthma, minor threshold dose, or higher egg sIgE (P < 0.05). Most patients (89.06%) developed DARs: 74.53% were mild; 21.90% moderate; and 3.5% requiring adrenaline-treatment. Moderate reactions and those requiring adrenaline were more frequent in patients with allergic asthma, PII pattern, or higher egg sIgE serum antibody levels (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PEW OIT is an effective treatment for children with persistent egg allergy. A 30% weekly plus 5% daily increment pattern could be more effective and safer than one with only 30% weekly increments.

Melodic intonation therapy in post-stroke nonfluent aphasia: a randomized pilot trial.

OBJECTIVE:: To collect data to estimate the sample size of a definitive randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of Melodic Intonation Therapy in post-stroke nonfluent aphasia. DESIGN:: A randomized, crossover, interventional pilot trial. SETTING:: Departments of Neurology and Rehabilitation from a university general hospital. PARTICIPANTS:: Stroke survivors with post-stroke nonfluent aphasia. INTERVENTIONS:: Patients randomized to group 1 had treatment with Melodic Intonation Therapy first (12 sessions over six weeks) followed by no treatment; the patients in group 2 started active treatment between three and six months after their inclusion in the study, serving as waiting list controls for the first phase. MAIN MEASURES:: The Communicative Activity Log (CAL) questionnaire and the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) were evaluated at baseline, and at six and 12 weeks. RESULTS:: Twenty patients were included. Four of the patients allocated to group 2 crossed over to group 1, receiving the treatment at first. Intention-to-treat analysis: after adjustment for baseline scores, the mean difference in the CAL evaluation from baseline in the treated group was 8.5 points (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.11-17.0; P = .043), with no significant change in any of the BDAE sections. Per-protocol analysis showed similar results with a clear treatment effect ( P = .043) on the CAL. CONCLUSION:: Melodic Intonation Therapy might have a positive effect on the communication skills of stroke survivors with nonfluent aphasia as measured by the CAL questionnaire. A full-scale trial with at least 27 patients per group is necessary to confirm these results.

Donor KIR Genotype Impacts on Clinical Outcome after T Cell-Depleted HLA Matched Related Allogeneic Transplantation for High-Risk Pediatric Leukemia Patients.

Preliminary data suggest that ex vivo T cell-depleted matched related donor (MRD) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is feasible and confers a clinically beneficial reduction in graft-versus-host disease. Classically, T cell-depleted grafts were associated with reduction of the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect because of delayed T cell immune reconstitution. However, natural killer (NK) cell alloreactivity is also critical for an early GVL effect as well as for lymphocyte immune reconstitution. Here, we study the role of NK cells in MRD T cell-depleted HSCT, which is still poorly understood. Given that MRD ligands for inhibitory killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are matched, we focused on activating KIR receptors. We retrospectively analyzed KIR genotyping in patients and MRDs in 40 ex vivo T cell-depleted pediatric HSCTs. The log-rank test and Cox proportional risk test were performed to correlate genotype with clinical outcome (relapse rate, disease-free survival, and overall survival) and immune reconstitution. The statistical analysis revealed poorer overall survival when donors have a KIR-B content score of ≥2, a best/better subtype, or present the KIR2DS1 gene. The patient's relapse rate was higher when donors present the KIR2DL5A gene, as well as a poorer probability of disease-free survival when the donor is classified with a best/better subtype. Regarding immune reconstitution, donor KIR haplotype A or the presence of inhibitory KIR genes promote best recovery of T lymphocytes, whereas donor KIR haplotype B or the presence of activating KIR genes confer better expansion of NK cells. These findings suggest that the selection of MRDs with an inhibitory KIR phenotype improve T cell expansion as well as the clinical outcome after pediatric ex vivo T cell-depleted HSCT.

A prospective analysis of intake and composition of mother's own milk in preterm newborns less than 32 weeks' gestational age.

Background Mothers of preterm (PT) infants have difficulty providing adequate quantities of human milk (HM) for their babies during their hospital stay. The macronutrient content in HM changes over time, varying across and within individual mothers. The research aim of the strudy was to describe the intake of mothers' own milk (MOM) and its composition according to gestational (GA) and postnatal age (PNA) in infants born <32 weeks' GA and to correlate them with neonatal weight, length and morbidities. Methods A prospective observational study of 176 premature infants in a unit without a donor milk bank was conducted. Daily milk intake was recorded. HM macronutrients were determined by mid-infrared spectrophotometric analysis at 7, 15 and 30 days after delivery and monthly until hospital discharge. Results Intake of MOM increased during the first 2 weeks after birth and decreased steadily thereafter. Protein concentration varied inversely with PNA. Carbohydrate and lipid concentrations increased over the first few days and remained stable thereafter. A fall in weight percentiles from birth to 60 days was found. No correlation was found between total protein and calorie intakes at 3 and 15 days of life and growth velocity (GV) between 15 and 30 days, even when broken down into parenteral nutrition (PN), formula and MOM. Conclusion To improve MOM feeding in PT newborns, intensive support strategies at the prenatal stage along entire hospitalization income should be encouraged. New protocols for fortification of HM should be implemented to optimize postnatal weight gain while preserving the health benefits of HM.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Images and Weight-Bearing Radiographs in Patients With Arthroscopic-Proven Medial Osteoarthritis of the Knee.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to analyze the diagnostic value of weight-bearing radiographs, magnetic resonance images (MRI), and the combination of both in osteoarthritic knees when using arthroscopic findings as the "gold standard" to compare with. METHODS: A total of 59 patients were studied because of chronic pain in 1 of their knees. Radiographs were classified according to Kellgren-Lawrence scale. Magnetic resonance images were classified according to Vallotton, and arthroscopic findings according to Outerbridge criteria. RESULTS: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were, respectively, 75.0%, 60.0%, 56.2%, 77.8%, and 66.1% for weight-bearing radiographs, and 70.8%, 88.6%, 81.0%, 81.6%, and 81.4% for MRI. Logistic regression analysis showed that a weight-bearing radiograph added to MRI offered no additional diagnostic value compared with MRI alone (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic resonance images presented higher specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy than weight-bearing radiographs for knee osteoarthritis. The combination of radiographs and MRI did not improve the diagnostic accuracy, compared with MRI alone.