Patterns, risk factors and outcome predictors of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in pediatric cancer patients.

The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical and radiological patterns and outcome predictors of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in pediatric cancer patients. A retrospective study included patients who developed PRES during their treatment at the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt. A total of 50 patients developed PRES. Leukemia and lymphoma were the commonest diagnoses (64%). Regarding the MRI findings, occipital affection was the most common (92%), followed by frontal and temporal lobes involvement in 32% and 22% respectively and advanced PRES was described in 8 patients. Of the whole patients, 80% had complete clinical resolution and 60% showed complete radiological resolution at 2 weeks' evaluation and 2 patients died out of PRES. Unfavorable outcome was associated with those who had motor dysfunction, status epilepticus at presentation, frontal lobe and thalamic affection and atypical PRES. PRES might present in atypical sites with poor outcome including death.

Outcomes of allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation for childhood chronic myeloid leukemia: Single-center experience.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Despite the apparent efficacy and favorable toxicity profile of TKIs, allogeneic SCT remains the only curative treatment for CML especially in younger patients, but TRM should be considered. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of pediatric CML patients who had SCT in our center. METHODS: This retrospective study included children with CML, who received an allogeneic SCT at Children Cancer Hospital Egypt, 57357, from 2007 to 2017. All patients received myeloablative conditioning chemotherapy containing busulfan/cyclophosphamide followed by stem cell infusion from MRD. RESULTS: From 121 patients diagnosed with CML, 43 had available MRD and subjected to HSCT while 78 patients continued TKI therapy. The median time to transplant from diagnosis was 13 months. At initial diagnosis, there were 39 patients in CP and 4 had blastic crises. Bone marrow harvest was the stem cell source in 32 patients, while 11 cases received mobilized peripheral blood stem cells with average stem cell dose of 4.45 × 106 /kg. The probabilities of overall survival and event-free survival at 5 years were 97.4% and 79.8%, respectively. TRM at 100 days and TRM at 1-year post-transplant were 0%. The incidence of chronic GVHD was significantly higher in peripheral blood than bone marrow stem cell source (P = .004). CONCLUSION: Considering the excellent survival rates and very low TRM, HSCT is still a valid option for pediatric patients with newly diagnosed CML with best using marrow stem cell source to avoid a significant risk of cGVHD and its related complications.

Early Deaths in Pediatric Acute Leukemia: A Major Challenge in Developing Countries.

Children with acute leukemia may experience high treatment-related mortality, which often occurs early in the induction phase. The aim of the study was to assess the incidence and risk factors related to increased mortality during induction therapy of pediatric patients with acute leukemia. This is a retrospective study that included pediatric acute leukemia patients who presented to the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, between January 2011 and December 2013. The study included 370 patients, 253 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 100 with acute myeloid leukemia, and 17 with mixed phenotype acute leukemia. The total and induction death rates were 40.5% and 19.2%, respectively. Most of the early deaths were attributed to infections (64.7%) and cerebrovascular accidents (18.3%). Using enhanced supportive care measures during 2013 had significantly reduced the overall and induction mortality rates (29% and 13.6%, respectively, in 2013 vs. 46% and 20.3% in 2011). Induction deaths in pediatric acute leukemia remain a major challenge in developing countries, and using enhanced supportive care measures is effective to improve the survival outcome in this group of patients.