Safety and effectiveness of a microcrystalline tyrosine-associated mite extract immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis.

Aim: To assess the safety and effectiveness of an allergen immunotherapy (AIT) with a microcrystalline tyrosine-associated mite allergoid in real-world patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). Materials & methods: Retrospective, multicenter study assessing the safety of AIT in patients aged 5 to 65 years with AR, with or without asthma, sensitized to mites. Secondary objective was effectiveness, measured as unscheduled visits to healthcare centers and emergency rooms, rhinitis and asthma evolution, medication use and patients' and physicians' disease perception 12 months before and after treatment. Results: The 306 patients evaluated, with a mean (standard deviation) age of 29.68 (14.66) years, received different treatment compositions and regimens, and 25 (8.2%) experienced nonserious adverse reactions. Unscheduled visits to the specialist and emergency room admissions significantly decreased after immunotherapy (mean [standard deviation] 2.11 [1.95] and 0.3 [0.93] vs 0.66 [1.09] and 0.02 [0.2], before and after treatment, respectively). Rhinitis and asthma classification ('AR and its impact on asthma' and 'Guía Española para el Manejo del Asma', respectively) significantly changed (p < 0.0001 for all classifications), showing symptom reduction after AIT. Median (interquartile range)-combined rhinitis and combined asthma medication scores significantly decreased (4.0 [1.33, 7.0] vs 0.25 [0, 10.0]; p < 0.0001 and 6.94 [1.5, 6.0] vs 0.67 [0, 4.67]; p < 0.0001) within 12 months before and after starting AIT, respectively. Conclusion: AIT with microcrystalline tyrosine-associated mite allergoid appears to be safe and effective in treating rhinitis caused by mites.

Immunodeficiency associated with tumour pathology: Good's syndrome.

The Good's syndrome (GS) is a low prevalence entity where thymoma often is associated with immunodeficiency. Patients may start presenting recurrent rhinosinusal infections, bronchopulmonary infections, haematological alterations and diarrhoea, secondary to immunodeficiency. They can also present respiratory symptoms and parathymic syndromes derived from the existence of thymoma, a slow-growing neoplasm located in the anterior mediastinum. We present the case of a 76-year-old man diagnosed with thymoma by image analysis, which had presented multiple episodes of pneumonia and two admissions to the hospital for diarrhoea of weeks of evolution. After finishing the study, the patient is diagnosed of GS. In this case, thymectomy prevented the appearance of parathymic syndrome, but without any effect on immunodeficiency symptoms. To decrease repeat infections, substitution therapy with immunoglobulins was started. The prognosis will depend mainly on the recurrent infectious and to a lesser extent on the thymic neoplasm.

Outcome of 490 Desensitizations to Chemotherapy Drugs with a Rapid One-Solution Protocol.

BACKGROUND: Hypersensitivity reactions to chemotherapy drugs are quite frequent. Desensitization for chemotherapy drugs has become an option to maintain first-line therapy in patients who have suffered such reactions. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe our experience in desensitization with antineoplastic agents using a rapid 1-solution protocol. METHODS: We performed a 3-year prospective observational study recording all patients who were desensitized with this protocol. All patients signed an informed consent. Skin test was performed at concentrations previously described as nonirritant. Desensitization was performed using only 1 solution of the drug prepared following the manufacturer instructions. Most drugs were diluted in a volume of 500 mL. We started infusion at 5 mL/h and increased doses at 15-minute intervals to 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mL/h. If no reaction occurred, and if the pharmacokinetics of the drug allowed it, we stepped up to 150, 200, and 250 mL/h. RESULTS: Ninety patients were desensitized to 93 drugs: oxaliplatin (30), carboplatin (16), paclitaxel (19), docetaxel (6), cetuximab (5), rituximab (6), and others (11). A total number of 490 procedures were performed. Sixteen patients (17.77%) presented 26 reactions (5.3%). Most reactions appeared in patients who were desensitized to platins and in patients with severe reactions. All but 3 cycles were completely administrated. No deaths or hospital admissions were recorded. CONCLUSIONS: This 1-solution protocol for desensitization has demonstrated to be safe and useful in our study population, especially for mild-to-moderate reactions and nonplatinum drugs. If our results were reproducible in other centers and larger populations, they could contribute to simplifying protocols and making desensitization available for more patients.