Antinuclear antibody-associated autoimmune cytopenia in childhood is a risk factor for systemic lupus erythematosus.

ABSTRACT: Autoimmune cytopenia (AIC) in children may be associated with positive antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and may progress to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We evaluated the risk of progression to SLE of childhood-onset ANA-associated AIC. In the French national prospective OBS'CEREVANCE cohort, the long-term outcome of children with ANA-associated AIC (ANA titer ≥1/160) and a subgroup of children who developed SLE were described. ANA were positive in 355 of 1803 (20%) children with AIC. With a median follow-up of 5.8 (range, 0.1-29.6) years, 79 of 355 (22%) patients developed SLE at a median age of 14.5 (1.1-21.4) years; 20% of chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura, 19% of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and 45% of Evans syndrome. None of the patients with ANA-negative test developed SLE. Severe manifestations of SLE were observed in 21 patients, and 2 patients died. In multivariate analysis including patients with positive ANA within the first 3 months after AIC diagnosis, age >10 years at AIC diagnosis (relative risk [RR], 3.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-11.4; P = .024) and ANA titer >1/160 (RR, 5.28; 95% CI, 1.20-23.17; P = .027) were associated with the occurrence of SLE after AIC diagnosis. ANA-associated AIC is a risk factor for progression to SLE, especially in children with an initial ANA titer >1/160 and an age >10 years at AIC diagnosis. ANA screening should be recommended in children with AIC, and patients with ANA should be monitored long-term for SLE, with special attention to the transition period. This trial was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov as #NCT05937828.

Autoimmune cytopenia and Kabuki syndrome in paediatrics: Insights in 11 patients.

Kabuki syndrome (KS) is now listed in the Human Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEI) Classification. It is a rare disease caused by KMT2D and KDM6A variants, dominated by intellectual disability and characteristic facial features. Recurrently, pathogenic variants are identified in those genes in patients examined for autoimmune cytopenia (AIC), but interpretation remains challenging. This study aims to describe the genetic diagnosis and the clinical management of patients with paediatric-onset AIC and KS. Among 11 patients with AIC and KS, all had chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura, and seven had Evans syndrome. All had other associated immunopathological manifestations, mainly symptomatic hypogammaglobinaemia. They had a median of 8 (5-10) KS-associated manifestations. Pathogenic variants were detected in KMT2D gene without clustering, during the immunological work-up of AIC in three cases, and the clinical strategy to validate them is emphasized. Eight patients received second-line treatments, mainly rituximab and mycophenolate mofetil. With a median follow-up of 17 (2-31) years, 8/10 alive patients still needed treatment for AIC. First-line paediatricians should be able to recognize and confirm KS in children with ITP or multiple AIC, to provide early appropriate clinical management and specific long-term follow-up. The epigenetic immune dysregulation in KS opens exciting new perspectives.

Determinants of long-term outcomes of splenectomy in pediatric autoimmune cytopenias.

Splenectomy is effective in ∼70% to 80% of pediatric chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP) cases, and few data exist about it in autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and Evans syndrome (ES). Because of the irreversibility of the procedure and the lack of predictions regarding long-term outcomes, the decision to undertake splenectomy is difficult in children. We report here factors associated with splenectomy outcomes from the OBS'CEREVANCE cohort, which prospectively includes French children with autoimmune cytopenia (AIC) since 2004. The primary outcome was failure-free survival (FFS), defined as the time from splenectomy to the initiation of a second-line treatment (other than steroids and intravenous immunoglobulins) or death. We included 161 patients (cITP, n = 120; AIHA, n = 19; ES, n = 22) with a median (minimum-maximum) follow-up of 6.8 years (1.0-33.3) after splenectomy. AIC subtype was not associated with FFS. We found that immunopathological manifestations (IMs) were strongly associated with unfavorable outcomes. Diagnosis of an IM before splenectomy was associated with a lower FFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.21-0.72, P = .003, adjusted for AIC subtype). Diagnosis of an IM at any timepoint during follow-up was associated with an even lower FFS (HR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.12-0.39; P = 2.8 × 10-7, adjusted for AIC subtype) as well as with higher risk of recurrent or severe bacterial infections and thrombosis. In conclusion, our results support the search for associated IMs when considering a splenectomy to refine the risk-benefit ratio. After the procedure, monitoring IMs helps to identify patients with higher risk of unfavorable outcomes.

Pubertal development of transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients in the era of oral chelation with deferasirox: results from the French registry.

Not available.

Pediatric refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia: Identification, patients' characteristics, and outcome.

Refractory chronic immune thrombocytopenia (r-cITP) is one of the most challenging situations in chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP). Pediatric r-cITP is inconsistently defined in literature, contributing to the scarcity of data. Moreover, no evidence is available to guide the choice of treatment. We compared seven definitions of r-cITP including five pediatric definitions in 886 patients with cITP (median [min-max] follow-up 5.3 [1.0-29.3] years). The pediatric definitions identified overlapping groups of various sizes (4%-20%) but with similar characteristics (higher proportion of immunopathological manifestations [IM] and systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]), suggesting that they adequately captured the population of interest. Based on the 79 patients with r-cITP (median follow-up 3.1 [0-18.2] years) according to the CEREVANCE definition (≥3 second-line treatments), we showed that r-cITP occurred at a rate of 1.15% new patients per year and did not plateau over time. In multivariate analysis, older age was associated with r-cITP. One patient (1%) experienced two grade five bleeding events after meeting r-cITP criteria and while not receiving second-line treatment. The cumulative incidence of continuous complete remission (CCR) at 2 years after r-cITP diagnosis was 9%. In this analysis, splenectomy was associated with a higher cumulative incidence of CCR (hazard ratio: 5.43, 95% confidence interval: 1.48-19.84, p = 7.8 × 10-4). In sum, children with cITP may be diagnosed with r-cITP at any time point of the follow-up and are at increased risk of IM and SLE. Second-line treatments seem to be effective for preventing grade 5 bleeding. Splenectomy may be considered to achieve CCR.

Five new F10 variants in hereditary factor x deficiency detected by high-throughput sequencing.

INTRODUCTION: Factor X deficiency is a rare inherited bleeding disorder. To date, 181 variants are reported in the recently updated F10-gene variant database. AIM: This study aimed to describe new F10 variants. METHOD: The F10 gene was analysed in 16 consecutive families with FX deficiency by a targeted high-throughput sequencing approach, including F10, F9, F8 genes, and 78 genes dedicated to haematological malignancies. RESULTS: We identified 19 variants (17 missense, one nonsense and one frameshift) and two copy number variations. Two patients presenting a combined FVII-FX deficiency showed a loss of one F10 gene copy (del13q34) associated with a missense variant on the remaining allele, leading to a FX:C significantly lower than the FVII:C level and explaining their unusual bleeding history. We reported five novel variants. Three missense variants (p.Glu22Val affecting the signal peptide cleavage site, p.Cys342Tyr removing the disulphide bond between the FX heavy and light chains, and p.Val385Met located in FX peptidase S1 domain) were detected at compound heterozygosis status in three patients with severe bleeding symptoms and FX:C level below 10 IU/dL. Two truncating variants p.Tyr279* and p.Thr434Aspfs*13 leading to an altered FX protein were found at heterozygous state in two patients with mild bleeding history. CONCLUSION: This study showed the feasibility and the interest of high-throughput sequencing approach for rare bleeding disorders, enabling the report of F10 gene screening in a 3-weeks delay, suitable for clinical use. The description of five new variants may contribute to a better understanding of the phenotype-genotype correlation in FX deficiency.

Impact of age at diagnosis, sex, and immunopathological manifestations in 886 patients with pediatric chronic immune thrombocytopenia.

Pediatric chronic immune thrombocytopenia (cITP) is a heterogeneous condition in terms of bleeding severity, second-line treatment use, association with clinical and/or biological immunopathological manifestations (IMs), and progression to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). No risk factors for these outcomes are known. Specifically, whether age at ITP diagnosis, sex, or IMs impact cITP outcomes is unknown. We report the outcomes of patients with pediatric cITP from the French nationwide prospective cohort OBS'CEREVANCE. We used multivariate analyses to investigate the effect of age at ITP diagnosis, sex, and IMs on cITP outcomes. We included 886 patients with a median (min-max) follow-up duration of 5.3 (1.0-29.3) years. We identified an age cutoff that dichotomized the risk of the outcomes and defined two risk groups: patients with ITP diagnosed <10 years (children) and ≥ 10 years (adolescents). Adolescents had a two to four-fold higher risk of grade ≥3 bleeding, second-line treatment use, clinical and biological IMs, and SLE diagnosis. Moreover, female sex and biological IMs were independently associated with higher risks of biological IMs and SLE diagnosis, second-line treatment use, and SLE diagnosis, respectively. The combination of these three risk factors defined outcome-specific risk groups. Finally, we showed that patients clustered in mild and severe phenotypes, more frequent in children and adolescents, respectively. In conclusion, we identified that age at ITP diagnosis, sex, and biological IMs impacted the long-term outcomes of pediatric cITP. We defined risk groups for each outcome, which will help clinical management and further studies.

Biological, clinical features and modelling of heterozygous variants of glycoprotein Ib platelet subunit alpha (GP1BA) and glycoprotein Ib platelet subunit beta (GP1BB) genes responsible for constitutional thrombocytopenia.

Constitutional thrombocytopenias are rare disorders, often difficult to discriminate from acquired thrombocytopenias. More than 80 genes have been described as being at the origin of these diseases. Among them, several variants of the glycoprotein Ib platelet subunit alpha (GP1BA) and glycoprotein Ib platelet subunit beta (GP1BB) genes, coding for the GpIb-IX-V glycoprotein complex, have been reported in the literature. The study reported here aimed at describing newly identified monoallelic anomalies affecting the GP1BA and GP1BB genes on a clinical, biological and molecular level. In a cohort of nine patients with macrothrombocytopenia, eight heterozygous variants of the GP1BA or GP1BB genes were identified. Five of them had never been described in the heterozygous state. Computer modelling disclosed structure/function relationships of these five variants.

Long term follow-up of pediatric-onset Evans syndrome: broad immunopathological manifestations and high treatment burden.

Pediatric-onset Evans syndrome (pES) is defined by both immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) before the age of 18 years. There have been no comprehensive long-term studies of this rare disease, which can be associated to various immunopathological manifestations (IM). We report outcomes of the 151 patients with pES and more than 5 years of follow-up from the nationwide French prospective OBS'CEREVANCE cohort. Median age at final follow-up was 18.5 years (range, 6.8-50.0 years) and the median follow-up period was 11.3 years (range, 5.1-38.0 years). At 10 years, ITP and AIHA were in sustained complete remission in 54.5% and 78.4% of patients, respectively. The frequency and number of clinical and biological IM increased with age: at the age of 20 years, 74% had at least one clinical IM (cIM). A wide range of cIM occurred, mainly lymphoproliferation, dermatological, gastrointestinal/hepatic and pneumological IM. The number of cIM was associated with a subsequent increase in the number of second-line treatments received (other than steroids and immunoglobulins; hazard ratio 1.4, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.15-1.60, P=0.0002, Cox proportional hazards method). Survival at 15 years after diagnosis was 84%. Death occurred at a median age of 18 years (range, 1.7-31.5 years), and the most frequent cause was infection. The number of second-line treatments and severe/recurrent infections were independently associated with mortality. In conclusion, long-term outcomes of pES showed remission of cytopenias but frequent IM linked to high second-line treatment burden. Mortality was associated to drugs and/or underlying immunodeficiencies, and adolescents-young adults are a high-risk subgroup.

Prospective Evaluation of the First Option, Second-Line Therapy in Childhood Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia: Splenectomy or Immunomodulation.

OBJECTIVE: To describe 4 subgroups of pediatric patients treated with splenectomy, hydroxychloroquine, azathioprine, or rituximab as the first-option, second-line treatment for chronic immune thrombocytopenia. STUDY DESIGN: Selection of patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia from the French national prospective cohort of pediatric autoimmune cytopenia OBS'CEREVANCE and VIGICAIRE study, treated by splenectomy, hydroxychloroquine, azathioprine, or rituximab as a first second-line treatment. RESULTS: For 137 patients, treated between 1989 and 2016, the median follow-up after diagnosis and after treatment initiation was 8.5 (2.8-26.4) years and 4.7 (1.1-25.1) years, respectively. Median age at diagnosis and at initiation of treatment were 9 (0.7; 16) and 12 (2; 18.1) years, respectively without significant difference between subgroups. For the whole cohort, 24-month event-free survival was 62% (95% CI 55; 71). It was 85% (95% CI 77; 95) for the 56 patients treated with splenectomy, 60% (95% CI 44; 84) for the 23 patients treated with rituximab, 46% (95% CI 30; 71) for the 24 patients treated with azathioprine, and 37% (95% CI 24; 59) for the 34 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine (log-rank P < .0001). For the splenectomy subgroup, being older than 10 years at splenectomy tended to improve event-free survival (P = .05). Female teenagers with antinuclear antibody positivity benefited from hydroxychloroquine therapy. CONCLUSIONS: This national study, limiting pitfalls in the analysis of the effects of second-line therapies, showed that splenectomy remains the treatment associated with the better response at 24 months.

Second-line treatment trends and long-term outcomes of 392 children with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura: the French experience over the past 25 years.

Childhood chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (cITP) is a rare disease. In severe cases, there is no evidence for the optimal therapeutic strategy. Our aim was to describe the real-life management of non-selected children with cITP at diagnosis. Since 2004, patients less than 18 years old with cITP have been enrolled in the national prospective cohort, OBS'CEREVANCE. From 1990 to 2014, in 29 centres, 392 children were diagnosed with cITP. With a median follow-up of six years (2·0-25), 45% did not need second-line therapy, and 55% (n = 217) received one or more second lines, mainly splenectomy (n = 108), hydroxychloroquine (n = 61), rituximab (n = 61) or azathioprine (n = 40). The overall five-year further second-line treatment-free survival was 56% [95% CI 49·5-64.1]. The use of splenectomy significantly decreased over time. Hydroxychloroquine was administered to children with positive antinuclear antibodies, more frequently older and girls, and reached 55% efficacy. None of the patients died. Ten years after the initial diagnosis, 55% of the 56 followed children had achieved complete remission. Children with cITP do not need second-line treatments in 45% of cases. Basing the treatment decision on the pathophysiological pathways is challenging, as illustrated by ITP patients with positive antinuclear antibodies treated with hydroxychloroquine.

Bleeding complications during pregnancy and delivery in haemophilia carriers and their neonates in Western France: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period expose haemophilia carriers, as well as their potentially affected neonates to a high risk of haemorrhagic complications. OBJECTIVES: To describe bleeding complications in haemophilia carriers and their newborns throughout pregnancy and postpartum and to identify potential factors increasing the risk of bleeding in this population. PATIENTS/METHODS: The ECHANGE multicentre observational cohort study was conducted between January 2014 and February 2019 using the BERHLINGO database comprised of patients from seven French haemophilia centres. RESULTS: During the 5 years study period, a total of 104 haemophilia carriers and 119 neonates were included, representing 124 pregnancies and 117 deliveries. Thirty-five (30%) bleeding events were observed, most of them (83%) occurred during the postpartum period, and 37% were reported during the secondary postpartum. Neuraxial anaesthesia was not complicated by spinal haematoma. Three (2.5%) neonates experienced cerebral bleeding. Caesarean section was associated with an increased risk of maternal bleeding in primary and secondary postpartum periods. Basal factor level <0.4 IU/mL was also found to be associated with an increased risk of bleeding during secondary postpartum. CONCLUSION: In our cohort, bleeding events occurred in more than a third of haemophilia carriers mainly in the postpartum period, and a significant portion of this bleeding occurred during the secondary postpartum. Haemophilia carriers warrant specific attention during primary and secondary postpartum, in particular in case of caesarean section and low basal factor level. The ECHANGE study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03360149.

Genotype/phenotype correlations of childhood-onset congenital sideroblastic anaemia in a European cohort.

Congenital sideroblastic anaemia (CSA) is a rare disease caused by germline mutations of genes involved in haem and iron-sulphur cluster formation, and mitochondrial protein biosynthesis. We performed a retrospective multicentre European study of a cohort of childhood-onset CSA patients to explore genotype/phenotype correlations. We studied 23 females and 20 males with symptoms of CSA. Among the patients, the most frequently mutated genes were ALAS2 (n = 10; 23·3%) and SLC25A38 (n = 8; 18·6%), causing isolated forms of microcytic anaemia of varying severity. Five patients with SLC19A2 mutations suffered from thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anaemia and three exhibited the 'anaemia, deafness and diabetes' triad. Three patients with TRNT1 mutations exhibited severe early onset microcytic anaemia associated with thrombocytosis, and two exhibited B-cell immunodeficiency, inflammatory syndrome and psychomotor delay. The prognoses of patients with TRNT1 and SLC2A38 mutations were generally dismal because of comorbidities or severe iron overload. No molecular diagnosis could be established in 14/43 cases. This study emphasizes the frequency of ALAS2 and SLC25A38 mutations and provides the largest comprehensive analysis to date of genotype/phenotype correlations in CSA. Further studies of CSA patients with data recorded in an international registry would be helpful to improve patient management and establish standardized guidelines.

A 1-Year Prospective French Nationwide Study of Emergency Hospital Admissions in Children and Adults with Primary Immunodeficiency.

PURPOSE: Patients with primary immunodeficiency (PID) are at risk of serious complications. However, data on the incidence and causes of emergency hospital admissions are scarce. The primary objective of the present study was to describe emergency hospital admissions among patients with PID, with a view to identifying "at-risk" patient profiles. METHODS: We performed a prospective observational 12-month multicenter study in France via the CEREDIH network of regional PID reference centers from November 2010 to October 2011. All patients with PIDs requiring emergency hospital admission were included. RESULTS: A total of 200 admissions concerned 137 patients (73 adults and 64 children, 53% of whom had antibody deficiencies). Thirty admissions were reported for 16 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients. When considering the 170 admissions of non-transplant patients, 149 (85%) were related to acute infections (respiratory tract infections and gastrointestinal tract infections in 72 (36%) and 34 (17%) of cases, respectively). Seventy-seven percent of the admissions occurred during winter or spring (December to May). The in-hospital mortality rate was 8.8% (12 patients); death was related to a severe infection in 11 cases (8%) and Epstein-Barr virus-induced lymphoma in 1 case. Patients with a central venous catheter (n = 19, 13.9%) were significantly more hospitalized for an infection (94.7%) than for a non-infectious reason (5.3%) (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Our data showed that the annual incidence of emergency hospital admission among patients with PID is 3.4%. The leading cause of emergency hospital admission was an acute infection, and having a central venous catheter was associated with a significantly greater risk of admission for an infectious episode.

GLRX5 mutations impair heme biosynthetic enzymes ALA synthase 2 and ferrochelatase in Human congenital sideroblastic anemia.

Non-syndromic microcytic congenital sideroblastic anemia (cSA) is predominantly caused by defective genes encoding for either ALAS2, the first enzyme of heme biosynthesis pathway or SLC25A38, the mitochondrial importer of glycine, an ALAS2 substrate. Herein we explored a new case of cSA with two mutations in GLRX5, a gene for which only two patients have been reported so far. The patient was a young female with biallelic compound heterozygous mutations in GLRX5 (p.Cys67Tyr and p.Met128Lys). Three-D structure analysis confirmed the involvement of Cys67 in the coordination of the [2Fe2S] cluster and suggested a potential role of Met128 in partner interactions. The protein-level of ferrochelatase, the terminal-enzyme of heme process, was increased both in patient-derived lymphoblastoid and CD34+ cells, however, its activity was drastically decreased. The activity of ALAS2 was found altered and possibly related to a defect in the biogenesis of its co-substrate, the succinyl-CoA. Thus, the patient exhibits both a very low ferrochelatase activity without any accumulation of porphyrins precursors in contrast to what is reported in erythropoietic protoporphyria with solely impaired ferrochelatase activity. A significant oxidative stress was evidenced by decreased reduced glutathione and aconitase activity, and increased MnSOD protein expression. This oxidative stress depleted and damaged mtDNA, decreased complex I and IV activities and depleted ATP content. Collectively, our study demonstrates the key role of GLRX5 in modulating ALAS2 and ferrochelatase activities and in maintaining mitochondrial function.

11q24.2q24.3 microdeletion in two families presenting features of Jacobsen syndrome, without intellectual disability: Role of FLI1, ETS1, and SENCR long noncoding RNA.

This report presents two families with interstitial 11q24.2q24.3 deletion, associated with malformations, hematologic features, and typical facial dysmorphism, observed in Jacobsen syndrome (JS), except for intellectual disability (ID). The smallest 700 Kb deletion contains only two genes: FLI1 and ETS1, and a long noncoding RNA, SENCR, narrowing the minimal critical region for some features of JS. Consistent with recent literature, it adds supplemental data to confirm the crucial role of FLI1 and ETS1 in JS, namely FLI1 in thrombocytopenia and ETS1 in cardiopathy and immune deficiency. It also supports that combined ETS1 and FLI1 haploinsufficiency explains dysmorphic features, notably ears, and nose anomalies. Moreover, it raises the possibility that SENCR, a long noncoding RNA, could be responsible for limb defects, because of its early role in endothelial cell commitment and function. Considering ID and autism spectrum disorder, which are some of the main features of JS, a participation of ETS1, FLI1, or SENCR cannot be excluded. But, considering the normal neurodevelopment of our patients, their role would be either minor or with an important variability in penetrance. Furthermore, according to literature, ARHGAP32 and KIRREL3 seem to be the strongest candidate genes in the 11q24 region for other Jacobsen patients.

FranceCoag: a 22-year prospective follow-up of the national French cohort of patients with inherited bleeding disorders.

FranceCoag is an ongoing open prospective multicentre cohort project aimed at improving epidemiological knowledge about inherited bleeding disorders in France. The main objective of this article was to evaluate the project's progress as of the 30th December 2016. Between 1994 and this date, of the 10,047 patients included in the study, 384 (3.8%) were reported by clinicians to have died and 159 (1.6%) to be lost to follow-up. Among the remaining 9504 patients still being followed up, 5748 (60.5%) had haemophilia A, 1300 (13.7%) haemophilia B, 1980 (20.8%) von Willebrand Disease while 476 (5.0%) had another clotting factor deficiency (Factor I, II, V, combined V and VIII, VII, X, XI and XIII). The median age of the population was 32 years (Inter-quartile range (IQR) 18-50 years) at data extraction on December 30th, 2016. The subgroup of children (i.e., < 18 years old) with severe haemophilia and comprehensive information available since the first exposure to treatment was identified as the PUPs (Previously Untreated Patients) cohort. Data for the 643 children included in the PUPs' cohort had been collected since their birth. Follow-up data were collected by the clinicians in haemophilia treatment centres (HTC) every 12.9 months on median (IQR 11.4-21.3). In the PUPS cohort, data were updated every 6.2 months on median (IQR 3.7-11.7). A unique patient number assigned at study inclusion was kept at individual HTC by participating clinicians. The data collected included demographic, clinical, therapeutic and biological items on standard electronic forms. As of December 30th 2016, a plasma and serum samples was available for 2581 patients (27.1%).

Benefits of rituximab as a second-line treatment for autoimmune haemolytic anaemia in children: a prospective French cohort study.

Childhood autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) requires second-line immunosuppressive therapy in 30-50% of cases. It appears that rituximab is indicated in such circumstances. This prospective national study reports the practice, efficacy and tolerance of rituximab in children with isolated AIHA and AIHA in the setting of Evans syndrome (ES). Sixty-one children were given rituximab between 2000 and 2014. The median interval from diagnosis to rituximab was 9·9 [interquartile range (IQR) 1·6-28·5] months. Forty-six patients responded (75%) and the 6-year relapse-free survival (RFS) was 48%. Twenty patients relapsed at a median interval of 10·8 (IQR 3·9-18·7) months, rituximab allowed steroid withdrawal in 44/61 (72%) of children. In isolated AIHA, complete response and 6-year RFS were significantly higher than in ES (P < 0·05). Ten out of 61 patients were infants, seven of who responded with a 6-year RFS of 71%. Among patients without immunoglobulin substitution before rituximab, 4 are still receiving substitutions. Five patients died, including one potentially attributable to rituximab. This large observational series of childhood AIHA established the rituximab benefit-risk ratio, allowing steroid withdrawal, with 37% of long-term responders, mainly in isolated AIHA. All subgroups of patients drew benefit. Our long-term results indicate the baseline to be challenged by new treatment approaches.

Bleeding risk of surgery and its prevention in patients with inherited platelet disorders.

Excessive bleeding at surgery is a feared complication in patients with inherited platelet disorders. However, very few studies have evaluated the frequency of surgical bleeding in these hemorrhagic disorders. We performed a worldwide, multicentric, retrospective study to assess the bleeding complications of surgery, the preventive and therapeutic approaches adopted, and their efficacy in patients with inherited platelet disorders: the Surgery in Platelet disorders And Therapeutic Approach (SPATA) study. We rated the outcome of 829 surgical procedures carried out in 423 patients with well-defined forms of inherited platelet disorders: 238 inherited platelet function disorders and 185 inherited platelet number disorders. Frequency of surgical bleeding was high in patients with inherited platelet disorders (19.7%), with a significantly higher bleeding incidence in inherited platelet function disorders (24.8%) than in inherited platelet number disorders (13.4%). The frequency of bleeding varied according to the type of inherited platelet disorder, with biallelic Bernard Soulier syndrome having the highest occurrence (44.4%). Frequency of bleeding was predicted by a pre-operative World Health Organization bleeding score of 2 or higher. Some types of surgery were associated with a higher bleeding incidence, like cardiovascular and urological surgery. The use of pre-operative pro-hemostatic treatments was associated with a lower bleeding frequency in patients with inherited platelet function disorders but not in inherited platelet number disorders. Desmopressin, alone or with antifibrinolytic agents, was the preventive treatment associated with the lowest bleedings. Platelet transfusions were used more frequently in patients at higher bleeding risk. Surgical bleeding risk in inherited platelet disorders is substantial, especially in inherited platelet function disorders, and bleeding history, type of disorder, type of surgery and female sex are associated with higher bleeding frequency. Prophylactic pre-operative pro-hemostatic treatments appear to be required and are associated with a lower bleeding incidence.

Analysis of 339 pregnancies in 181 women with 13 different forms of inherited thrombocytopenia.

Pregnancy in women with inherited thrombocytopenias is a major matter of concern as both the mothers and the newborns are potentially at risk of bleeding. However, medical management of this condition cannot be based on evidence because of the lack of consistent information in the literature. To advance knowledge on this matter, we performed a multicentric, retrospective study evaluating 339 pregnancies in 181 women with 13 different forms of inherited thrombocytopenia. Neither the degree of thrombocytopenia nor the severity of bleeding tendency worsened during pregnancy and the course of pregnancy did not differ from that of healthy subjects in terms of miscarriages, fetal bleeding and pre-term births. The degree of thrombocytopenia in the babies was similar to that in the mother. Only 7 of 156 affected newborns had delivery-related bleeding, but 2 of them died of cerebral hemorrhage. The frequency of delivery-related maternal bleeding ranged from 6.8% to 14.2% depending on the definition of abnormal blood loss, suggesting that the risk of abnormal blood loss was increased with respect to the general population. However, no mother died or had to undergo hysterectomy to arrest bleeding. The search for parameters predicting delivery-related bleeding in the mother suggested that hemorrhages requiring blood transfusion were more frequent in women with history of severe bleedings before pregnancy and with platelet count at delivery below 50 × 10(9)/L.