[Evaluation of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus colonization at Gaziantep Children's Hospital, Turkey]. / Gaziantep Çocuk Hastanesinde Vankomisine Dirençli Enterokok Kolonizasyonunun Degerlendirilmesi.

Enterococci are members of normal flora of human gastrointestinal system, and occupy the first places among the agents causing nosocomial infection. The most frequent origin of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) is the gastrointestinal colonization in hospitalized patients. Prolonged hospitalization, long-term antibiotic use and severe underlying diseases increase the risk of VRE colonization. Routine VRE surveillance of high-risk group patients is crucial for early detection and implementation of precautions to impede the development of infection and spread of VRE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of VRE colonization in Oncology Department of Gaziantep Children's Hospital, Turkey, following a VRE isolation from the urine sample of a patient (index case). In the first phase of this point prevalence study VRE screening was done after positive VRE result was obtained from the index case, and in the second phase VRE colonization rate was investigated after the implementation of infection control policies. Perirectal swab samples collected from patients were cultivated into supplemented VRE agar base (Oxoid, UK) including vancomycin 6 µg/ml and 5% sheep blood agar. The isolates were identified by conventional methods together with API 20 Strep (bioMerieux, France) and VITEK2 (bioMerieux, France) identification systems. Vancomycin (30 µg) and teicoplanin (30 µg) susceptibilities of the isolates were investigated by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method according to CLSI criteria. In addition, VITEK2 antibiogram cards, AST-592 were used to determine antibiotic susceptibilities. In the first phase of the surveillance a total of 123 perirectal swab specimens obtained from patients staying at oncology, burn, pediatric surgery and intensive care units (ICU) were investigated and the rate of VRE colonization was determined as 14.6% (18/123). Thirteen of the VRE colonized patients were from oncology wards and five were from ICU. Upon the detection of VRE colonization, contact isolation was implemented and hospital staff was educated for hand washing and restricted antibotic use policies were established. To evaluate the efficacy of infection control implementations, perirectal swab samples were collected from 242 patients under antibiotic treatment and hospitalized in several wards and ICU for ≥ 3 days. The results of this second control surveillance revealed that VRE colonization rate declined to 3.3% (8/242), and three of these VRE colonized patients were in the ICU, three in the oncology ward and one of each in burn and pediatric wards. During the study period blood stream infection developed in three of the previously colonized oncology patients of whom one patient also had simultaneous pneumoniae due to VRE. The results of this study indicated the importance of VRE surveillance at the hospital setting. The determination of the VRE colonization in the hospital will help the implementation of appropriate infection control measures and eventually decrease the rate of nosocomial VRE infection.

Late relapsing Wilms tumor with rhabdomyomatous differentiation.

The authors report a patient with abdominally relapsed Wilms tumor with rhabdomyomatous differentiation leading to renal failure and death 9 years after the initial diagnosis. The patient was treated with intensive chemotherapy because of inoperable tumor but no response was obtained. The prognosis of children with Wilms tumor relapsed in abdomen and in previously irradiated fields is poor and intensive chemotherapy protocols for differentiated tumors after chemotherapy will increase the risk of complications without obvious benefit.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Langerhans cell histiocytosis: case report and review of the literature.

The prognosis in children with LCH who do not respond to the conventional therapies is very poor. SCT may be a new approach. However, there are limited data about the results of the transplantations. Herein we report a patient with refractory multisystem LCH who underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and is disease and treatment free 54 months after transplantation. Further studies are required to establish the role of SCT in refractory LCH.

Refractoriness to rituximab monotherapy in a child with relapsed/refractory Burkitt non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The authors describe a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with mediastinal Burkitt lymphoma with tumor invasion into bone marrow and both kidneys. After receiving chemotherapy according to NHL BFM-95 protocol for the high-risk disseminated lymphoma, the patient reached complete remission. He relapsed in the mediastinum at 5 months from the diagnosis. He underwent thoracotomy and tumor mass was removed by inferior lobectomy of right lung. Residual tumor progressed rapidly. Autologous stem cell transplantation could not be performed because of unresponsiveness to cytoreductive chemotherapy. Twenty-three days after the last chemotherapy course, he received rituximab at a dose of 375 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion weekly, for a total of 8 dose. However, multiple intra-abdominal metastatic lesions were detected at the end of the therapy. Palliative radiotherapy was applied to these sites. He died because of disease progression, 11 months after the diagnosis.

A rare cause of childhood renal cysts: Xp11.2 translocation renal cell carcinoma.

Pediatric renal cysts are rare, usually asymptomatic and incidentally detected in children. Cyst associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC) or cystic RCC is extremely rare in children. Bosniak classification system has been accepted for the management of cystic renal masses. Xp11.2 translocation RCC is a recently classified distinct subtype and usually affects children and adolescents. We report the case of a 10-year-old girl with Xp11.2 translocation RCC from a cyst of the right kidney.

Primary renal lymphoma and xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis in childhood.

Primary renal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is very rare in childhood. A six-year-old boy presented with bilateral non-obstructive multinodular nephromegaly and renal failure. Percutaneous needle biopsy showed large-cell lymphoma. The patient was started on chemotherapy. A right nephrectomy was done when systemic hypertension developed in the presence of a non-functional right kidney. Histopathologic examination revealed focal lymphomatous infiltration and xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis which is an atypical form of chronic renal infection. The case is discussed in relation to previons reports.

Assessment of the immune response to trivalent split influenza vaccine in children with solid tumors.

PURPOSE: To assess the immune response to influenza vaccine in children with solid tumors receiving chemotherapy or under the influence of chemotherapy. METHODS: Forty-five children (aged 1-18) with solid tumors on chemotherapy or within 6 months of completion of chemotherapy were included in the study. The children received two doses of intramuscular trivalent split influenza vaccine with 1 month apart in November-December 2003 (children <4 age 0.25 ml; >4 age 0.5 ml). Antibody titer was detected in the pre-vaccination and 4-week post-vaccination sera by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) method. Immune responses were measured as protective, geometric mean titers (GMT), and fourfold rises in HI titers. RESULTS: We revealed that the post-vaccination GMT for each of the three antigens in patients with solid tumors has increased significantly (P < 0.05). A fourfold rise in the percentage of post-vaccination antibody titers has been detected as 84.4% for H(1)N(1), 77.8% for H(3)N(2), 60% for B. Stratification of patients as on active chemotherapy or being within 6 months of completion of chemotherapy in terms of fourfold rise in antibody titers exposed a statistically significant difference for only B (P = 0.34). Post-vaccination protective rates were between 86 and 97%. CONCLUSIONS: Due to the interruptions in treatment caused by influenza infections, and economic benefits of the vaccine, we suggest that inactivated influenza vaccine should be applied as two doses annually in patients with solid tumor.

Intestinal lymphangiectasia as a first manifestation of neuroblastoma.

In this report we describe an unusual case of neuroblastoma that presented with an initial manifestation of protein losing enteropathy secondary to intestinal lymphangiectasia.

Malignant triton tumor of the pelvis in a 2-year-old boy.

We report a 2-year-old boy who had a family history of neurofibromatosis, multiple cafe-au-lait spots on the trunk, tibial pseudarthrosis, and was diagnosed with a malignant triton tumor of the pelvis. To our knowledge our case is one of the youngest patients reported with a malignant triton tumor and the second pediatric case with a pelvic malignant triton tumor.