N-Doped TiO2 Photocatalyst Coatings Synthesized by a Cold Atmospheric Plasma.

This work presents a simple, fast (20 min treatment), inexpensive, and highly efficient method for synthesizing nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-TiO2) as an enhanced visible light photocatalyst. In this study, N-TiO2 coatings were fabricated by atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at room temperature. The composition and the chemical bonds of the TiO2 and N-TiO2 coatings were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). The results indicate that the nitrogen element has doped the TiO2 lattice, which was further confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD). The doping mechanism was investigated using OES to study the plasma properties under different conditions. It suggests that the NH radicals play a key role in doping TiO2. The concentration of nitrogen in the N-TiO2 coatings can be controlled by changing the concentration of NH3 in the plasma or the applied power to adjust the concentration of NH radicals in the plasma. The band gap of N-TiO2 was reduced after NH3/Ar plasma treatment from 3.25 to 3.18 eV. Consequently, the N-TiO2 coating showed enhanced photocatalytic activity under white-light-emitting-diode (LED) irradiation. The photocatalytic degradation rate for the N-TiO2 coating was about 1.4 times higher than that of the undoped TiO2 coating.

Pathologic Outcomes of Candidates for Active Surveillance Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy: Results from a Contemporary Turkish Patient Cohort.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the pathological outcomes of Turkish men meeting the criteria for Active Surveillance (AS), who elected to undergo immediate radical prostatectomy (RP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis including 1,212 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa) who met the eligibility criteria for AS. The primary outcomes were pathological upstaging and pathological upgrading. RESULTS: Nine hundred ninety-one patients were eligible for analysis after the central review of the submitted data. The mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was 6.89 (0.51-15) ng/mL and the mean biopsy core number was 12 (8-47). The mean tumor positive core on final biopsy pathology was 1.95 (1-6) (16.6% [2.1-33.3%]). Overall, 30.6% of the men experienced a Gleason sum (GS) upgrade and 13.2% had pathological upstaging. For GS upgrade, the percentage of tumor-positive cores and free-to-total-PSA ratio were significant both in univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Variables predicting pathological upstaging were percentage of tumor-positive cores and PSA density, which were significant in univariate analysis. However, only PSA density was significant in multivariate logistic regression. Although biochemical recurrence-free survival was longer in patients without GS upgrade, it was not statistically significant between patients with and without any GS upgrade (mean 133.7 vs. 148.2 months, p = 0.243). A similar observation was made for patients with or without pathological upstaging (mean 117.1 vs. 148.3 months, p = 0.190). CONCLUSIONS: Upgrading and upstaging at RP are quite common among Turkish men with clinically low-risk PCa, who are candidates for AS, and a great majority of them experienced long-term PSA control.

An evaluation of factors affecting pain during transrectal ultrasonographic prostate biopsy: a real-life scenario in a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Periprostatic infiltration anesthesia (PPIA) and intrarectal topical anesthesia (IRTA) are recommended methods to control pain in transrectal ultrasonographic prostate biopsy (TRUS-Bx). This study evaluates the factors affecting pain during TRUS-Bx, considering the pathologies involved in anorectal pain etiology and comparing the effectiveness of local anesthesia techniques in providing patient comfort. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 477 consecutive patients with TRUS-Bx for elevated Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), abnormal rectal examination findings, or both. Patients were grouped as local anesthesia methods for pain control during TRUS-Bx. Both groups were compared in terms of age, body mass index, clinical T stage, PSA, prostate volume, number of biopsy cores, type of anesthesia, previous biopsy history, and presence of prostate cancer. We used a visual analog pain scale (VAS) to evaluate the patient's pain status; pre-procedure (VAS-0), during probe insertion (VAS-I), administration of anesthetic (VAS-A), and simultaneous with the biopsy procedure itself (VAS-Bx). For PPIA and IRTA, 4 ml lidocaine 20 mg/ml injection and 5 g 5% prilocaine-5% lidocaine cream was used, respectively. RESULTS: The PPIA was used 74.2% (n = 354) and IRTA was used for 25.8% (n = 123) patients. VAS-0, VAS-I, and VAS-A scores are similar between groups. VAS-Bx was significantly higher in the IRTA than in the PPIA (3.37 ± 0.18 vs. 2.36 ± 0.12 p > 0.001). Clinical T stage (OR: 0.59), number of biopsy cores (OR: 1.80), and type of anesthesia application (OR: 2.65) were independent variables on TRUS-Bx for pain. CONCLUSION: Three factors play roles as independent variables associated with the pain in TRUS-Bx; abnormal rectal examination findings, collection of more than twelve core samples during the biopsy, and the type of anesthesia used. Compared with PPIA, IRTA does not improve pain related to probe insertion, and using IRTA results in higher pain scores for biopsy-related pain. Thus, we recommend a PPIA to lower biopsy-related pain.

Treatment of pediatric Burkitt lymphoma in Turkey.

This study aimed to assess the demographic data and treatment results of children who were diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma and treated according to the Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster-95 (BFM) protocol in a single institution. A total of 48 patients (37 boys, 77%) with a median age of 8 years (range 2 to 16 years) at diagnosis, were evaluated. Primary tumor sites were abdomen (70.8%), head and neck (22.9%), peripheral lymph node (2%), bone (2%), and testis (2%). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were 78.1±4% and 76.6±6%, respectively. In univariate analysis, hemoglobin level less than 10 g/dL, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) positivity and dialysis requirement at diagnosis were found to be important reverse predictor factors for EFS (P; 0.001, 0.001, 0.004, respectively). In multivariate analysis, hemoglobin level less than 10 g/dL and dialysis at diagnosis were found to be important reverse predictor factors for EFS (P; 0.0001). The EFS of our patients was lower than the values achieved with BFM-95 protocol in other centers. This study provides evidence that low hemoglobin level, CSF positivity and dialysis at diagnosis were important predictor factors for EFS in children with Burkitt lymphoma.

Association between genetic polymorphism in DNA repair genes and risk of B-cell lymphoma.

OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluated the possible effect of DNA repair genes, XPD (Xeroderma pigmentosum group D) codon (312 and 751) and XRCC1 (X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1) codon (194 and 399) SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) on the risk of childhood B-cell lymphoma. METHODS: The polymorphisms were analyzed in 33 patients with BL cases and in 52 healthy, age-matched controls using PCR-RFLP method. RESULTS: The authors observed no association between variation in the XPD codon Asp312Asn, Lys751Gln, and XRCC1 codon Arg399Gln polymorphisms and B-cell lymphoma for any parameter. In contrast, tryptophan allele frequency in control and patient groups was 0.10 and 0.03 respectively (p = .04). The frequency of XRCC1 194Arg/Trp genotype in B-cell lymphoma was significantly lower than that in controls (p = .005). No significant relationship was found between genotypes and stage, lactate dehydrogenase, or bone marrow involvement. CONCLUSIONS: XRCC1 194Trp allele may be associated with a protective effect against development of childhood B-cell lymphoma. However, these results were based on a small number of case and further studies should be done.

The Quest for Value-Added Products from Carbon Dioxide and Water in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge: A Chemical Kinetics Study.

Recycling of carbon dioxide by its conversion into value-added products has gained significant interest owing to the role it can play for use in an anthropogenic carbon cycle. The combined conversion with H2 O could even mimic the natural photosynthesis process. An interesting gas conversion technique currently being considered in the field of CO2 conversion is plasma technology. To investigate whether it is also promising for this combined conversion, we performed a series of experiments and developed a chemical kinetics plasma chemistry model for a deeper understanding of the process. The main products formed were the syngas components CO and H2 , as well as O2 and H2 O2 , whereas methanol formation was only observed in the parts-per-billion to parts-per-million range. The syngas ratio, on the other hand, could easily be controlled by varying both the water content and/or energy input. On the basis of the model, which was validated with experimental results, a chemical kinetics analysis was performed, which allowed the construction and investigation of the different pathways leading to the observed experimental results and which helped to clarify these results. This approach allowed us to evaluate this technology on the basis of its underlying chemistry and to propose solutions on how to further improve the formation of value-added products by using plasma technology.

Febrile neutropenia in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: single center experience.

AIM: An important life-threatening complication of intensive chemotherapy administered in children with leukemia is febrile neutropenia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical features and consequences of febrile neutropenia attacks in children who were treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Nighty-six children who received chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in our center between January 1995 and December 2010 were included in the study. The data related to demographic characteristics, treatment features, relapse and febrile neutropenia incidences, risk factors, culture results and prognosis were retrospectively evaluated from the patients' files. RESULTS: A total of two hundred-ninety nine febrile neutropenia attacks observed in the patients during initial treatment and relapse treatment were evaluated. When the incidence of febrile neutropenia was evaluated by years, it was observed that the patients treated after year 2000 had statistically significantly more febrile neutopenia attacks compared to the patients treated before year 2000. When the incidences of febrile neutropenia during initial treatment and during relapse treatment were compared, it was observed that more febrile neutropenia attacks occured during relapse treatment. Fifty-nine percent of all febrile neutropenia attacks were fever of unknown origin. Eighty microorganisms grew in cultures during febrile neutropenia throughout treatment in 75 patients; 86% were bacterial infections (50% gram positive and 50% gram negative), 8% were viral infections and 6% were fungal infections. Coagulase negative staphylococcus (n=17) was the most frequent gram positive pathogen; E. Coli (n=17) was the most commonly grown gram negative pathogen. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, it was found that an increase in the incidence of febrile neutropenia occured in years. Increments in treatment intensities increase the incidence of febrile neutropenia while improving survival. Evaluation of febrile neutropenia results by hematology-oncology units in years will be directive in early and successful treatment.

Synovial sarcoma of childhood and adolescence: a multicenter, multivariate analysis of outcome.

PURPOSE: To identify prognostic factors related to outcome in 219 children and adolescents with synovial sarcoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We combined the experiences of the four following research groups: Cooperative Weichteilsarkomastudie Group, Germany (n = 95); St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN (n = 49); Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy (n = 33); and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (n = 42). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard analyses were performed. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 13 years (range, 1 to 20 years), and the median follow-up was 6.6 years (range, 0.5 to 30.7 years). The estimated 5-year overall survival and event-free survival rates for the entire group were 80% +/- 3% (SE) and 72% +/- 3%, respectively. A previously unreported interaction between tumor size and invasiveness was observed that statistically significantly related to outcome. In multivarible analysis, patients with T1B and T2B disease (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.6, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.9 to 16.2; and HR = 5.9, 95% CI, 2.1 to 16.4, respectively) or Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS) Clinical Group III and IV disease (HR = 2.7, 95% CI, 1.2 to 6.5; and HR = 14.1, 95% CI, 4.3 to 31.3, respectively) had poor overall survival. Treatment with radiotherapy was related to improved overall survival (HR = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2 to 0.7). In IRS Group III patients, objective response to chemotherapy (18 of 30, 60%) correlated with improved survival. CONCLUSION: Clinical group, tumor size, and invasiveness are important prognostic factors. Multicenter randomized clinical trials are needed to determine both the effect of chemotherapy on survival and the necessity of local radiotherapy in patients with completely resected tumors.

The Role of Epstein-Barr Virus LMP-1 Immunohistochemical Staining in Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: There are a few published studies about prognostic markers of Epstein-B virus (EBV) related to outcomes in pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL). OBJECTIVES: We aimed to investigate the prognostic value and effect of EBV on survival by using biopsy materials in children and adolescents diagnosed with HL. PATIENTS AND METHODS: EBV LMP-1 expression was examined using immunohistochemical methods in 58 tumor samples. Clinical features, overall survival (OS) and failure free survival time (FFS) were compared between EBV LMP-1 positive and negative patients. RESULTS: In 20 (35%) patients tumors were LMP-1 positive. When compared with patients above 10 years old, EBV LMP-1 was often positive in patients under 10 years old (30% vs. 70%, P = 0.02). In our most cases having B symptoms and advanced stage, EBV positiveness in Hodgkin Reed-Stenberg cells (H-RS) was not a significant determinant for survival (P = 0.78). Half of the past clinical trials in childhood HL reported longer survival rates in EBV LMP-1 positive patients. In some trials similar to our results there was no significant relationship between EBV and prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The reason of diminished EBV positiviness may be related to technical methods such as not using immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization for EBER antigen but in laboratory conditions painting of control tissues with EBV impair this probability. In addition, cases enrolled to our study were living in Istanbul where social and economical factors are improved rather than generally.

Affective Temperament Profiles of Overactive Bladder Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Overactive bladder (OAB) is generally characterized by urinary urgency with or without incontinence and increased frequency of voiding and nocturia. Although animal studies have demonstrated the relationship between defective serotonergic neurotransmission and OAB, its etiology is still unclarified. Temperament profiles are hypothesized to be related with serotonergic activity and are studied in many psychosomatic disorders. Thus, we assume that OAB is related with a certain type of temperament. METHOD: 29 patients, who were admitted to the urology outpatient clinic at Kocaeli University and clinically diagnosed with OAB syndrome, were recruited for the study. Temperament profiles were evaluated with the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis Pisa Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). Depressive, hyperthymic, cyclothymic, anxious and irritable temperament scores in patients were compared with those in 25 healthy controls. RESULTS: Patient and control groups were similar in terms of age (p=.65), sex (p=.64) and educational level (p=.90). Anxious temperament scores were higher (p=.02) and hyperthymic temperament scores were lower (p=.02) in patients with OAB compared to controls. Depressive, cyclothymic and irritable temperament scores were similar in both groups. There was no significant differences between men and women in both groups in terms of different temperament profile scores. CONCLUSION: Hypothetically, there might be an association between anxious temperament and OAB syndrome reflecting serotonergic dysfunction. However, OAB syndrome must be considered from the aspect of the interdependence of psychosomatic implications in a narrow sense and psychosomatic dimensions due to the psychological predisposition in the individual case.

[Malignant rhabdoid tumor of the orbit]. / Orbital Malign Rabdoid Tümör.

Malignant rhabdoid tumor is a rare and malignant tumor of childhood. Generally it originates from the kidney and central nervous system, but occasionally it may arise from the orbit. Differential diagnosis from other childhood soft tissue sarcomas should be done. We report here an 8-week-old female infant with malignant rhabdoid tumor of the orbit who was treated with chemotherapy and surgery. The 8 week-old girl was referred to our hospital with a history of right proptosis first noted at birth. Physical and laboratory evaluation of the patient was normal except for right proptosis. The mass was removed surgically. Histopathologic examination and immunohistochemical findings of the specimen were evaluated as malignant rhabdoid tumor. Chemotherapy was administered. While in clinical remission, she succumbed during a febrile episode. Malignant rhabdoid tumor can rarely originate from the orbit. Malignant rhabdoid tumor should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of orbital masses, and surgery, chemotherapy and local radiotherapy should be used as combined therapy due to the poor prognosis.

In the cystoscopic follow-up of non-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma, NMP-22 works for high grades, but unreliable in low grades and upper urinary tract tumors.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Two percent of the bladder non-muscle-invasive (NMI) transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) are associated with upper urinary tract (UUT) TCC. We evaluated the role of nuclear matrix protein-22 (NMP-22) (BladderChek) test in the diagnosis of lower urinary tract and UUT-TCC. METHODS: From March 2009 to June 2011, 122 patients with bladder NMI-TCC underwent 205 control cystoscopy. A total of 95 (78 men and 17 women, mean age 60.7 years, range, 27-88) patients who were followed regularly with NMP-22 test and with follow-up cystoscopies (145 episodes; min. 1-max. 5) were included in this study. For routine monitoring of the UUT, IVU or CT urography was used once a year for high grades (HG), and once in every other year for low grades (LG). The sensitivity and specificity of NMP-22 were evaluated by ROC curves, and sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated. Chi-square test was used for the differences between the subgroups. RESULTS: Cystoscopy and NMP-22 results of the patients included in the study revealed the sensitivity (44.4%) of the test was very low and the specificity (98.4%) was quite high (p < 0.001). Among the 10 cystoscopies where NMP-22 was negative, but cystoscopy was positive for tumor, 8 had LG and 2 had HG TCC. NMP-22 was never positive in low-grade tumors, in other words, all of the NMP-22-positive 8 tumors were high grade. On the other hand, in 20% (2/10) of the cases, NMP-22 can be negative although the tumor was high grade. Two (2.1%) HG UUT-TCC were detected in 95 patients. These 2 patients were within the 125 cystoscopies (75 patients) where both NMP-22 and cystoscopy were negative for tumor. CONCLUSIONS: Nuclear matrix protein-22 cannot detect LG TCC. However, it detects overwhelming majority of HG TCC. For this reason, positive NMP-22 test largely indicates HG TCC. NMP-22 is also not reliable in UUT-TCC, even in HG tumors.

Erythrocyte membrane protein defects in hereditary spherocytosis patients in Turkish population.

Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) is a congenital hemolytic anemia which is characterized by spherocytes in peripheral blood and increased osmotic fragility test. The disease is caused by defects in red cell membrane cytoskeleton. In this study, we investigated erythrocyte membrane protein defects in 50 Turkish HS patients and 42 controls. We used sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to identify the protein defects causing HS. The patients were from 27 families (39 kindred and 11 unrelated patients). They were aged between 6 months and 53 years and the mean age was 18.75 (±14.70) years. Protein deficiencies related to HS were demonstrated in 42% of study group. There was not any statistically significant relation between the protein deficiency and hemoglobin levels. Isolated or combined spectrin deficiency was the most common protein abnormality among our patients. Spectrin deficiency was detected in 22% of cases (11/50), ankyrin deficiency in 8% (4/50), protein 4.2 deficiency in 8% (4/50), combined spectrin and protein 4.2 deficiency in 2% (1/50), combined spectrin and ankyrin deficiency in 2% (1/50). Fifty-eight percent of cases (29/50) showed normal protein contents.

Is Familial Mediterranean Fever a thrombotic disease or not?

The aim of our study was to show how the progression and severity of Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is affected by procoagulant activity and alterations in the markers of thrombosis and fibrinolysis. The study cohort comprised 64 FMF patients who were classified as attack-free patients (Group 1; n = 34 patients, aged 3-19 years) and attack patients (Group 2; n = 30 patients, aged 3-21 years). All patients were on colchicine treatment with the exception the newly diagnosed patients in Group 2. A total of 14 healthy subjects between 5-12 years of age were enrolled as controls (Group 3). Laboratory tests, including leukocyte and thrombocyte counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP, fibrinogen, PT, aPTT, Factor VIII, vW factor, D-dimer, P-selectin, tPA and PAI-1, were carried out on all patients. Inflammation continued both during the attack and attack-free period in FMF. The prolongation of PT was observed during attacks (PT = 13.6 s in Group 2, and PT = 12.6 s in Group 3; p = 0.002). tPA levels increased in FMF patients (tPA levels of group 1, 2 and 3 were 12.6, 13.2 and 9.7 ng/ml, respectively; p = 0.01). P-selectin was lower in both patient groups than in the control group. During attack periods PAI-1 levels increased (PAI-1 level of Group 1: 89.6 ng/ml and PAI-1 level of Group 2: 335.7 ng/ml, p = 0.000). Inflammation with increased acute phase reactants continued during both attack and attack-free periods in FMF patients. Prolongation of PT and differences in tPA and P-selectin levels suggest that hypercoagulability may have a role in the etiopathogenesis of FMF. It may be possible to use PAI-1 as a marker for the attacks of FMF.

Retinoblastoma in Turkey: survival and clinical characteristics 1981-2004.

BACKGROUND: In this study, the authors aim to describe the survival and clinical characteristics of 141 retinoblastoma cases treated at Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, between 1981 and 2004. METHOD: The authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of 141 children (177 eyes) diagnosed with retinoblastoma and treated between 1981 and 2004. Information on gender, laterality, age at diagnosis, presenting signs, spread of tumor, treatment modality, survival rate, and family history were collected. RESULTS: A total of 105 cases (74.5%) were unilateral and 36 cases (25.5%) were bilateral. The mean age overall at the time of diagnosis was 25 months; in unilateral cases, 29 months; and in bilateral cases, 16 months. The most common presenting signs were leukocoria (116 cases, 82%), strabismus (14 cases, 10%) and proptosis (11 cases, 8%). A total of 28 cases had orbital extension, nine patients had central nervous system invasion, and five cases exhibited bone marrow involvement. In total, 16 patients (11%) had a family history of retinoblastoma. One case developed a secondary neoplasm. The 3 year cumulative survival rate of 141 patients was 89.69% (unilateral, 90.74%; bilateral 87.35% P = 0.9371, P > 0.05, log rank test). CONCLUSION: The study's survival rate was similar to developed countries. The success in higher survival rates is based on the authors multidisciplinary team approach done by the same group and the support of the authors' clinic and government in sponsoring the medical insurance of all patients.

Antibody titers and immune response to diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella vaccination in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The objective of this study was to investigate the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and/or measles-mumps antibody titers before and after vaccination at various time points of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) therapy and to suggest an appropriate vaccination approach for ALL patients. The authors studied 37 ALL patients and 14 healthy control subjects, divided into three groups. In group 1 (newly diagnosed patients), baseline anti-diphtheria, anti-tetanus, and anti-pertussis titers were determined. Patients in group 2 (on maintenance chemotherapy) and group 3 (patients not receiving therapy for 3-6 months) were vaccinated with diphtheria-tetanus with or without acellular pertussis; group 3 and control subjects were also given measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Preimmunization and 1-month postimmunization titers were drawn. Preimmunization anti-diphtheria and anti-tetanus antibody titers between the groups and the controls were statistically similar. The seropositivity rate for anti-measles antibody in group 3 was significantly lower than controls. After vaccination, all of the patients developed protective anti-diphtheria and anti-tetanus antibody titers. The seroconversion rates of group 3 and controls for anti-measles and anti-mumps antibodies were statistically similar. The results showed that patients on maintenance therapy and after cessation of therapy made good antibody responses to diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, but response to measles and mumps vaccines was not as sufficient as toxoid vaccines. Children with ALL can receive the appropriate vaccines during and after maintenance treatment.

The anemia of familial Mediterranean fever disease.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of anemia detected in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and the effect of disease activity and colchicine therapy along with interleukins to laboratory tests, including serum transferrin receptor (TfR), in the diagnosis of anemia seen in FMF in children. After detecting anemia in 63.4% of 172 FMF patients followed up by our rheumatology outpatient polyclinics, it was decided to study 3 groups of patients: group 1, 17 newly diagnosed FMF patients; group 2, 36 FMF patients on colchicine therapy; and group 3, 17 healthy children as control for the symptom of anemia. All 3 groups of patients were investigated for their hematological parameters, iron status, including soluble transferrin receptor (sTFR) concentrations and sTFR index, and IL-6 levels. Anemia ratio was 9/17, 53%; 11/36, 31%; and 1/17, 5% in the groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. There was a significant difference between hemoglobin (Hb) values in the first group and the second (patients who were on colchicine therapy). Furthermore, in the second group there was a significant difference between the Hb concentrations at the time of diagnosis and after colchicine therapy (p = .003). There was a positive correlation between Hb and plasma iron and transferrin saturation in group 1 and disease beginning age, iron, transferrin saturation, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in the second group. In the first group the anemic patients' iron and transferrin saturation were significantly lower than normal, while ferritin levels were higher. In the second group, a good correlation was found with ESR and Hb levels; the higher ESR values were detected in patients with lower Hb values. Of the anemic and nonanemic patients of the first and second groups, values for interleukin 6 and iron parameters, including sTFR, were found similar. Anemia detected in FMF patients was found related to iron status more than interleukins. Colchicine therapy had a positive effect on anemia as well as on disease activity. Resolution of symptoms of FMF occurred with correction of the anemia, if the patient ESR values also decreased on colchicine therapy.

Flow cytometry and fluorescence in situ hybridization to detect residual neuroblastoma cells in bone marrow.

BACKGROUND: In patients with neuroblastoma morphological assessment of BM for residual NB cells is not precise, particularly when the number of tumor cells is small. PROCEDURE: To develop a sensitive and rapid method of detecting NB cells in BM, we assessed the efficiency of flow cytometry (FCM) using markers CD9, CD56, and CD45. The percent of CD9+/CD56+/CD45- (NB phenotype) cells was determined by FCM in 41 samples (16 patients) at various time points. For confirmation fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for 17q gain was performed. RESULTS: Nineteen of the 22 (86%) samples that were negative by morphology were positive by FCM (>0.006% CD9+/CD56+/CD45- cells). The longest time to complete the FCM study was 3 hr. In six FISH experiments the sorted CD9+/CD56+/CD45- population had a higher percentage of cells with 17q gain (11.5-95%) compared to a CD56-/CD45+ internal control population (2-8%). CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary results suggest that FCM determination of the percent of CD9+/CD56+/CD45- cells is an effective method of rapidly detecting NB cells in BM.