Genotype, oxidase status, and preceding infection or autoinflammation do not affect allogeneic HCT outcomes for CGD.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a primary immunodeficiency characterized by life-threatening infections and inflammatory conditions. Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the definitive treatment for CGD, but questions remain regarding patient selection and impact of active disease on transplant outcomes. We performed a multi-institutional retrospective and prospective study of 391 patients with CGD treated either conventionally (non-HCT) enrolled from 2004 to 2018 or with HCT from 1996 to 2018. Median follow-up after HCT was 3.7 years with a 3-year overall survival of 82% and event-free survival of 69%. In a multivariate analysis, a Lansky/Karnofsky score <90 and use of HLA-mismatched donors negatively affected survival. Age, genotype, and oxidase status did not affect outcomes. Before HCT, patients had higher infection density, higher frequency of noninfectious lung and liver diseases, and more steroid use than conventionally treated patients; however, these issues did not adversely affect HCT survival. Presence of pre-HCT inflammatory conditions was associated with chronic graft-versus-host disease. Graft failure or receipt of a second HCT occurred in 17.6% of the patients and was associated with melphalan-based conditioning and/or early mixed chimerism. At 3 to 5 years after HCT, patients had improved growth and nutrition, resolved infections and inflammatory disease, and lower rates of antimicrobial prophylaxis or corticosteroid use compared with both their baseline and those of conventionally treated patients. HCT leads to durable resolution of CGD symptoms and lowers the burden of the disease. Patients with active infection or inflammation are candidates for transplants; HCT should be considered before the development of comorbidities that could affect performance status. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02082353.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is effective for p47phox chronic granulomatous disease: A Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium study.

BACKGROUND: P47phox (neutrophil cytosolic factor-1) deficiency is the most common cause of autosomal recessive chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and is considered to be associated with a milder clinical phenotype. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for p47phox CGD is not well-described. OBJECTIVES: We sought to study HCT for p47phox CGD in North America. METHODS: Thirty patients with p47phox CGD who received allogeneic HCT at Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium centers since 1995 were included. RESULTS: Residual oxidative activity was present in 66.7% of patients. In the year before HCT, there were 0.38 CGD-related infections per person-years. Inflammatory diseases, predominantly of the lungs and bowel, occurred in 36.7% of the patients. The median age at HCT was 9.1 years (range 1.5-23.6 years). Most HCTs (90%) were performed after using reduced intensity/toxicity conditioning. HCT sources were HLA-matched (40%) and -mismatched (10%) related donors or HLA-matched (36.7%) and -mismatched (13.3%) unrelated donors. CGD-related infections after HCT decreased significantly to 0.06 per person-years (P = .038). The frequency of inflammatory bowel disease and the use of steroids also decreased. The cumulative incidence of graft failure and second HCT was 17.9%. The 2-year overall and event-free survival were 92.3% and 82.1%, respectively, while at 5 years they were 85.7% and 77.0%, respectively. In the surviving patients evaluated, ≥95% donor myeloid chimerism at 1 and 2 years after HCT was 93.8% and 87.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with p47phox CGD suffer from a significant disease burden that can be effectively alleviated by HCT. Similar to other forms of CGD, HCT should be considered for patients with p47phox CGD.

COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients with Inborn Errors of Immunity Reduces Hospitalization and Critical Care Needs Related to COVID-19: a USIDNET Report.

BACKGROUND: The CDC and ACIP recommend COVID-19 vaccination for patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI). Not much is known about vaccine safety in IEI, and whether vaccination attenuates infection severity in IEI. OBJECTIVE: To estimate COVID-19 vaccination safety and examine effect on outcomes in patients with IEI. METHODS: We built a secure registry database in conjunction with the US Immunodeficiency Network to examine vaccination frequency and indicators of safety and effectiveness in IEI patients. The registry opened on January 1, 2022, and closed on August 19, 2022. RESULTS: Physicians entered data on 1245 patients from 24 countries. The most common diagnoses were antibody deficiencies (63.7%). At least one COVID-19 vaccine was administered to 806 patients (64.7%), and 216 patients received vaccination prior to the development of COVID-19. The most common vaccines administered were mRNA-based (84.0%). Seventeen patients were reported to seek outpatient clinic or emergency room care for a vaccine-related complication, and one patient was hospitalized for symptomatic anemia. Eight hundred twenty-three patients (66.1%) experienced COVID-19 infection. Of these, 156 patients required hospitalization (19.0%), 47 required ICU care (5.7%), and 28 died (3.4%). Rates of hospitalization (9.3% versus 24.4%, p < 0.001), ICU admission (2.8% versus 7.6%, p = 0.013), and death (2.3% versus 4.3%, p = 0.202) in patients who had COVID-19 were lower in patients who received vaccination prior to infection. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, not having at least one COVID-19 vaccine significantly increased the odds of hospitalization and ICU admission. CONCLUSION: Vaccination for COVID-19 in the IEI population appears safe and attenuates COVID-19 severity.

Intestinal microbiome and metabolome signatures in patients with chronic granulomatous disease.

BACKGROUND: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is caused by defects in any 1 of the 6 subunits forming the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase complex 2 (NOX2), leading to severely reduced or absent phagocyte-derived reactive oxygen species production. Almost 50% of patients with CGD have inflammatory bowel disease (CGD-IBD). While conventional IBD therapies can treat CGD-IBD, their benefits must be weighed against the risk of infection. Understanding the impact of NOX2 defects on the intestinal microbiota may lead to the identification of novel CGD-IBD treatments. OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify microbiome and metabolome signatures that can distinguish individuals with CGD and CGD-IBD. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study of 79 patients with CGD, 8 pathogenic variant carriers, and 19 healthy controls followed at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. We profiled the intestinal microbiome (amplicon sequencing) and stool metabolome, and validated our findings in a second cohort of 36 patients with CGD recruited through the Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium. RESULTS: We identified distinct intestinal microbiome and metabolome profiles in patients with CGD compared to healthy individuals. We observed enrichment for Erysipelatoclostridium spp, Sellimonas spp, and Lachnoclostridium spp in CGD stool samples. Despite differences in bacterial alpha and beta diversity between the 2 cohorts, several taxa correlated significantly between both cohorts. We further demonstrated that patients with CGD-IBD have a distinct microbiome and metabolome profile compared to patients without CGD-IBD. CONCLUSION: Intestinal microbiome and metabolome signatures distinguished patients with CGD and CGD-IBD, and identified potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Progress in the field of hematopoietic stem cell-based therapies for inborn errors of immunity.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Hematopoietic stem cell-based therapies, including allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and autologous gene therapy (GT), have been used as curative therapy for many inborn errors of immunity (IEI). As the number of genetically defined IEI and the use of HCT and GT increase, valuable data on outcomes and approaches for specific disorders are available. We review recent progress in HCT and GT for IEI in this article. RECENT FINDINGS: Novel approaches to prevention of allogeneic complications and experience in adolescents and young adults have expanded the use of HCT. Universal newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) has led to improved outcome after HCT. Analysis of outcomes of HCT and GT for SCID, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) reveal risk factors for survival, the impact of specific conditioning regimens, and vector- or disease-specific impacts on efficacy and safety. Preclinical studies of GT and gene editing show potential for translation to the clinic. SUMMARY: Emerging data on outcome after HCT for specific IEI support early evaluation and treatment, before development of co-morbidities. Data in large cooperative retrospective databases continues to yield valuable insights clinicians can use in patient selection and choice of therapy.

Reduced-Intensity/Reduced-Toxicity Conditioning Approaches Are Tolerated in XIAP Deficiency but Patients Fare Poorly with Acute GVHD.

X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) deficiency is an inherited primary immunodeficiency characterized by chronic inflammasome overactivity and associated with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) with fully myeloablative conditioning may be curative but has been associated with poor outcomes. Reports of reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) and reduced-toxicity conditioning (RTC) regimens suggest these approaches are well tolerated, but outcomes are not well established. Retrospective data were collected from an international cohort of 40 patients with XIAP deficiency who underwent HCT with RIC or RTC. Thirty-three (83%) patients had a history of HLH, and thirteen (33%) patients had IBD. Median age at HCT was 6.5 years. Grafts were from HLA-matched (n = 30, 75%) and HLA-mismatched (n = 10, 25%) donors. There were no cases of primary graft failure. Two (5%) patients experienced secondary graft failure, and three (8%) patients ultimately received a second HCT. Nine (23%) patients developed grade II-IV acute GVHD, and 3 (8%) developed extensive chronic GVHD. The estimated 2-year overall and event-free survival rates were 74% (CI 55-86%) and 64% (CI 46-77%), respectively. Recipient and donor HLA mismatch and grade II-IV acute GVHD were negatively associated with survival on multivariate analysis with hazard ratios of 5.8 (CI 1.5-23.3, p = 0.01) and 8.2 (CI 2.1-32.7, p < 0.01), respectively. These data suggest that XIAP patients tolerate RIC and RTC with survival rates similar to HCT of other genetic HLH disorders. Every effort should be made to prevent acute GVHD in XIAP-deficient patients who undergo allogeneic HCT.

Granulocyte Transfusions in Patients with Chronic Granulomatous Disease Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation or Gene Therapy.

Granulocyte transfusions are sometimes used as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of infection in patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). However, granulocyte transfusions can be associated with a high rate of alloimmunization, and their role in CGD patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) or gene therapy (GT) is unknown. We identified 27 patients with CGD who received granulocyte transfusions pre- (within 6 months) and/or post-HCT or GT in a retrospective survey. Twelve patients received granulocyte transfusions as a bridge to cellular therapy. Six (50%) of these patients had a complete or partial response. However, six of 10 (60%) patients for whom testing was performed developed anti-HLA antibodies, and three of the patients also had severe immune-mediated cytopenia within the first 100 days post-HCT or GT. Fifteen patients received granulocyte transfusions post-HCT only. HLA antibodies were not checked for any of these 15 patients, but there were no cases of early immune-mediated cytopenia. Out of 25 patients who underwent HCT, there were 5 (20%) cases of primary graft failure. Three of the patients with primary graft failure had received granulocyte transfusions pre-HCT and were subsequently found to have anti-HLA antibodies. In this small cohort of patients with CGD, granulocyte transfusions pre-HCT or GT were associated with high rates of alloimmunization, primary graft failure, and early severe immune-mediated cytopenia post-HCT or GT. Granulocyte transfusions post-HCT do not appear to confer an increased risk of graft failure.

Model-informed precision dosing for alemtuzumab in paediatric and young adult patients undergoing allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation.

Alemtuzumab is a lymphodepleting monoclonal antibody utilized in conditioning regimens for allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A recently proposed therapeutic range of 0.15-0.6 µg/mL on the day of transplantation is associated with better HCT outcomes. The purpose of this study was to characterize alemtuzumab population pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) and to propose individualized subcutaneous dosing schemes to achieve this optimal level for paediatric patients. METHODS: Alemtuzumab concentration and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) profiles were obtained from 29 paediatric and young adult patients (median age 6.4 y; range 0.28-21.4 y) with nonmalignant disorders undergoing HCT. PK/PD analyses were performed using nonlinear mixed effects modelling. Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to evaluate different improved dosing approaches. RESULTS: A one-compartment model with sequential zero- and first-order absorption adequately described subcutaneously administered alemtuzumab PK. Model fit was significantly improved by including allometrically scaled body weight on clearance (0.080 L/h/70 kg) and volume of distribution (17.4 L/70 kg). ALC reduction following subcutaneous alemtuzumab was swift. An inhibitory Emax model best characterized the relationship between alemtuzumab concentration and ALC. Emax and EC50 were estimated as 1.18 × 103 /µL and 0.045 µg/mL, respectively. The currently used per kg dosing was found to cause uneven alemtuzumab exposure across different age and weight cohorts. Simulations indicated optimal target achieving dose as allometry-based dose of 18 mg × (weight/70)0.75 or body surface area-based dose of 10 mg/m2 , divided over 3 days, with a potential individualized top-up dose; both of which yielded similar results. CONCLUSION: An allometry- or body surface area-based starting dosing regimen in combination with individualized Bayesian PK estimation using concentration feedback is proposed for alemtuzumab precision dosing in children undergoing allogeneic HCT.

What facilitates policy audacity in tobacco control? An analysis of approaches and supportive factors for innovation in seven countries.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco control policy audacity can make radical ideas seem possible, and set in motion a 'domino' effect, where precedents in one jurisdiction are followed by others. This review examines tobacco control policy audacity from seven countries to identify and compare factors that facilitated it. METHODS: A targeted search strategy and purposive sampling approach was used to identify information from a range of sources and analyse key supportive factors for policy audacity. Each case was summarised, then key themes identified and compared across jurisdictions to identify similarities and differences. RESULTS: Included cases were Mauritius' ban on tobacco industry corporate social responsibility, Uruguay's tobacco single brand presentation regulations, New Zealand's Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan proposals and 2010 parliamentary Maori Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into the Tobacco Industry, Australia's plain packaging legislation, Balanga City's (Philippines) tobacco-free generation ordinance, Beverly Hills City Council's (USA) ordinance to ban tobacco sales and the Netherlands' policy plan to phase out online and supermarket tobacco sales. Each case was one strategy within a well-established comprehensive tobacco control and public health approach. Intersectoral and multijurisdiction collaboration, community engagement and public support, a strong theoretical evidence base and lessons learnt from previous tobacco control policies were important supportive factors, as was public support to ensure low political risk for policy makers. CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco control policy audacity is usually an extension of existing measures and typically appears as 'the next logical step' and therefore within the risk appetite of policy makers in settings where it occurs.

Correction: Chronic Granulomatous Disease-Associated IBD Resolves and Does Not Adversely Impact Survival Following Allogeneic HCT.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained the missing author, Caridad Martinez. The authors would like to correct the list. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. The correct author list is shown above.

Subcutaneous immunoglobulin replacement following CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in pediatric patients.

Twenty-eight patients were maintained on subcutaneous immunoglobulin replacement for persistent B-cell aplasia and agammaglobulinemia following CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. Patients were transitioned from intravenous to subcutaneous immunoglobulin replacement at a median of 11.5 months (range, 4-20). Increasing serum IgG level was significantly associated with a lower rate of sinopulmonary infection (P = 0.0072). The median serum IgG level during infection-free periods was 1000 mg/dL (range, 720-1430), which was significantly higher than IgG levels in patients with sinopulmonary infections. As such, we recommend maintaining a goal IgG level > 1000 mg/dL to provide optimal protection.

Chronic Granulomatous Disease-Associated IBD Resolves and Does Not Adversely Impact Survival Following Allogeneic HCT.

INTRODUCTION: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects approximately 1/3 of patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Comprehensive investigation of the effect of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) on CGD IBD and the impact of IBD on transplant outcomes is lacking. METHODS: We collected data retrospectively from 145 patients with CGD who had received allogeneic HCT at 26 Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC) centers between January 1, 2005 and June 30, 2016. RESULTS: Forty-nine CGD patients with IBD and 96 patients without IBD underwent allogeneic HCT. Eighty-nine percent of patients with IBD and 93% of patients without IBD engrafted (p = 0.476). Upper gastrointestinal acute GVHD occurred in 8.5% of patients with IBD and 3.5% of patients without IBD (p = 0.246). Lower gastrointestinal acute GVHD occurred in 10.6% of patients with IBD and 11.8% of patients without IBD (p = 0.845). The cumulative incidence of acute GVHD grades II-IV was 30% (CI 17-43%) in patients with IBD and 20% (CI 12-29%) in patients without IBD (p = 0.09). Five-year overall survival was equivalent for patients with and without IBD: 80% [CI 66-89%] and 83% [CI 72-90%], respectively (p = 0.689). All 33 surviving evaluable patients with a history of IBD experienced resolution of IBD by 2 years following allogeneic HCT. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort, allogeneic HCT was curative for CGD-associated IBD. IBD should not contraindicate HCT, as it does not lead to an increased risk of mortality. This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov NCT02082353.

Outcomes of matched sibling donor bone marrow transplantation in children using single-agent calcineurin inhibitors as prophylaxis for graft versus host disease.

BACKGROUND: Optimal graft versus host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis prevents severe manifestations without excess immunosuppression. Standard prophylaxis includes a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) with low-dose methotrexate. However, single-agent CNI may be sufficient prophylaxis for a defined group of patients. Single-agent CNI has been used for GVHD prophylaxis for human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched sibling donor (MSD) bone marrow transplants (BMTs) in young patients at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for over 20 years. Here, we describe outcomes using this prophylactic strategy in a recent cohort. PROCEDURE: We performed a single-institution chart review and retrospective analysis of consecutive children undergoing MSD BMT who received single-agent CNI for GVHD prophylaxis between January 2002 and December 2014. RESULTS: Fifty-two children with a median age of 6.1 years (interquartile range [IQR] 2.5-8.3) and donor age of 6 years (IQR 3-10), with malignant and nonmalignant diseases (n = 35 and 17, respectively) were evaluated. Forty-three (82.6%) received oral prophylaxis with single-agent tacrolimus after initial intravenous therapy. Rates of GVHD were consistent with reported rates on dual prophylaxis: the overall incidence of grades 2-4 acute GVHD was 25.5%, grades 3-4 GVHD 9.8%, and chronic GVHD 10.4%. The cumulative incidence of relapse among children with malignancy was 20% at a median of 237 days (IQR 194-318) post-transplant. Two-year overall survival was 82.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 69.4-90.6%) and event-free survival was 78.9% (95% CI: 65.1-87.7%). No patient experienced graft failure. CONCLUSIONS: Single-agent CNI is a safe, effective approach to GVHD prophylaxis in young patients undergoing HLA-identical sibling BMT. Additionally, single-agent oral tacrolimus is a reasonable alternative to cyclosporine in this population.

Hot topics, urgent priorities, and ensuring success for racial/ethnic minority young investigators in academic pediatrics.

BACKGROUND: The number of racial/ethnic minority children will exceed the number of white children in the USA by 2018. Although 38% of Americans are minorities, only 12% of pediatricians, 5% of medical-school faculty, and 3% of medical-school professors are minorities. Furthermore, only 5% of all R01 applications for National Institutes of Health grants are from African-American, Latino, and American Indian investigators. Prompted by the persistent lack of diversity in the pediatric and biomedical research workforces, the Academic Pediatric Association Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID) was initiated in 2012. RAPID targets applicants who are members of an underrepresented minority group (URM), disabled, or from a socially, culturally, economically, or educationally disadvantaged background. The program, which consists of both a research project and career and leadership development activities, includes an annual career-development and leadership conference which is open to any resident, fellow, or junior faculty member from an URM, disabled, or disadvantaged background who is interested in a career in academic general pediatrics. METHODS: As part of the annual RAPID conference, a Hot Topic Session is held in which the young investigators spend several hours developing a list of hot topics on the most useful faculty and career-development issues. These hot topics are then posed in the form of six "burning questions" to the RAPID National Advisory Committee (comprised of accomplished, nationally recognized senior investigators who are seasoned mentors), the RAPID Director and Co-Director, and the keynote speaker. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The six compelling questions posed by the 10 young investigators-along with the responses of the senior conference leadership-provide a unique resource and "survival guide" for ensuring the academic success and optimal career development of young investigators in academic pediatrics from diverse backgrounds. A rich conversation ensued on the topics addressed, consisting of negotiating for protected research time, career trajectories as academic institutions move away from an emphasis on tenure-track positions, how "non-academic" products fit into career development, racism and discrimination in academic medicine and how to address them, coping with isolation as a minority faculty member, and how best to mentor the next generation of academic physicians.

Impact of social factors on risk of readmission or mortality in pneumonia and heart failure: systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Readmission and mortality after hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and heart failure (HF) are publically reported. This systematic review assessed the impact of social factors on risk of readmission or mortality after hospitalization for CAP and HF-variables outside a hospital's control. METHODS: We searched OVID, PubMed and PSYCHINFO for studies from 1980 to 2012. Eligible articles examined the association between social factors and readmission or mortality in patients hospitalized with CAP or HF. We abstracted data on study characteristics, domains of social factors examined, and presence and magnitude of associations. RESULTS: Seventy-two articles met inclusion criteria (20 CAP, 52 HF). Most CAP studies evaluated age, gender, and race and found older age and non-White race were associated with worse outcomes. The results for gender were mixed. Few studies assessed higher level social factors, but those examined were often, but inconsistently, significantly associated with readmissions after CAP, including lower education, low income, and unemployment, and with mortality after CAP, including low income. For HF, older age was associated with worse outcomes and results for gender were mixed. Non-Whites had more readmissions after HF but decreased mortality. Again, higher level social factors were less frequently studied, but those examined were often, but inconsistently, significantly associated with readmissions, including low socioeconomic status (Medicaid insurance, low income), living situation (home stability rural address), lack of social support, being unmarried and risk behaviors (smoking, cocaine use and medical/visit non-adherence). Similar findings were observed for factors associated with mortality after HF, along with psychiatric comorbidities, lack of home resources and greater distance to hospital. CONCLUSIONS: A broad range of social factors affect the risk of post-discharge readmission and mortality in CAP and HF. Future research on adverse events after discharge should study social determinants of health.

GATA2 Deficiency: Predisposition to Myeloid Malignancy and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: GATA2 deficiency is a haploinsufficiency syndrome associated with a wide spectrum of disease, including severe monocytopenia and B and NK lymphopenia, predisposition to myeloid malignancies, human papillomavirus infections, and infections with opportunistic organisms, particularly nontuberculous mycobacteria, herpes virus, and certain fungi. GATA2 mutations have variable penetrance and expressivity with imperfect genotype-phenotype correlations. However, approximately 75% of patients will develop a myeloid neoplasm at some point. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only currently available curative therapy. Here, we review the clinical manifestations of GATA2 deficiency, characterization of the hematologic abnormalities and progression to myeloid malignancy, and current HCT practices and outcomes. RECENT FINDINGS: Cytogenetic abnormalities are common with high rates of trisomy 8, monosomy 7, and unbalanced translocation der(1;7) and may suggest an underlying GATA2 deficiency in patients presenting with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Mutations in ASXL1 and STAG2 are the most frequently encountered somatic mutations and are associated with lower survival probability. A recent report of 59 patients with GATA2 deficiency who underwent allogenic HCT with myeloablative, busulfan-based conditioning and post-transplant cyclophosphamide reported excellent overall and event-free survival of 85% and 82% with reversal of disease phenotype and low rates of graft versus host disease. Allogeneic HCT with myeloablative conditioning results in disease correction and should be considered for patients with a history of recurrent, disfiguring and/or severe infections, organ dysfunction, MDS with cytogenetic abnormalities, high-risk somatic mutations or transfusion dependence, or myeloid progression. Improved genotype/phenotype correlations are needed to allow for greater predictive capabilities.

Modeling of infant safe sleep practice in a newborn nursery: a quality improvement initiative.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is a leading cause of infant mortality in the US. The American Academy of Pediatrics has provided recommendations for infant sleeping position and environment to decrease SIDS rates. These recommendations reinforce the importance of modeling safe sleep practices in the newborn nursery. Although many quality improvement initiatives have been undertaken to improve safe sleep in the nursery, such efforts are sparse in low-volume birth hospitals. This project aimed to improve infant sleep practices in a 10-bed level I nursery using visual cues (crib cards) and nursing education. We defined "safe sleep practice" if a newborn slept in a safe position in a flat bassinet and in a safe environment. We measured safe sleep practices before and after the intervention using an audit tool. As a result, safe sleep practices improved from 32% (30/95) preintervention to 75% (86/115) postintervention (P < 0.01). This study demonstrates that implementing a quality improvement initiative to improve infant sleep practices in a low-volume nursery is feasible and impactful.

The Use of Biologic Modifiers as a Bridge to Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Primary Immune Regulatory Disorders.

Recently, primary immune regulatory disorders have been described as a subset of inborn errors of immunity that are dominated by immune mediated pathology. As the pathophysiology of disease is elucidated, use of biologic modifiers have been increasingly used successfully to treat disease mediated clinical manifestations. Hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) has also provided definitive therapy in several PIRDs. Although biologic modifiers have been largely successful at treating disease related manifestations, data are lacking regarding long term efficacy, safety, and their use as a bridge to HCT. This review highlights biologic modifiers in the treatment of several PIRDs and there use as a therapeutic bridge to HCT.

Immune Reconstitution Following TCRαß/CD19-Depleted Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Hematologic Malignancy in Pediatric Patients.

TCRαß/CD19-depleted HCT has been used with excellent outcomes in pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies, and several studies have demonstrated rapid immune reconstitution in the nonmalignant setting. However, immune recovery following TCRαß/CD19-depleted hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for malignancy remains incompletely elucidated. Furthermore, the majority of studies to date have used haploidentical and matched unrelated donors. Here we report results of immune reconstitution following TCRαß/CD19-depleted HCT for hematologic malignancy in 51 pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies, the majority of whom received grafts from unrelated donors. Grafts were from matched unrelated (n = 20), mismatched unrelated (n = 20), and haploidentical (n = 11) donors. The median CD34+ cell dose was 10.2 × 106/kg (range, 4.54 to 20 × 106/kg), and the median TCRαß+ cell dose was 2.53 × 104/kg (range, 0 to 44.9 × 104/kg). Conditioning was myeloablative with either busulfan or total body irradiation, cyclophosphamide, and thiotepa. Thirty-three patients also received rabbit antithymocyte globulin. No prophylactic post-transplantation immune suppression was routinely given. Forty-three patients received rituximab on day +1 for recipient positive Epstein-Barr virus serology. Forty-nine patients (96%) engrafted with a median time to neutrophil recovery of 13 days (range, 8 to 30 days). Thirty-seven patients (73%) are alive at a median follow-up of 25 months (range, 6 to 50 months). Nine patients (18%) developed grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and 5 patients (11%) developed extensive chronic GVHD. Twenty-six patients (51%) experienced viral reactivation. T cell reconstitution was rapid with significant numbers of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells present on first assessment at 4 months post-HCT, and significant numbers of naïve CD4+ T cells were present by 8 months post-HCT. Chronic GVHD was associated with delayed T cell recovery; however, T cell reconstitution was not affected by underlying diagnosis, donor source, TCRαß+ T cell dose, conditioning regimen, or use of antithymocyte globulin. B cell recovery mirrored T cell recovery, and i.v. Ig was discontinued at a median of 8 months (range, 4 to 22 months) post-HCT in patients alive and relapse-free at last follow-up. Immune reconstitution is rapid following TCRαß/CD19-depleted HCT in pediatric patients with hematologic malignancies. Donor graft source, haploidentical or unrelated, did not affect immune reconstitution. Viral reactivation is common in the first 100 days post-HCT, indicating that improved T cell defense is needed in the early post-HCT period.