Somnolence syndrome and fever in pediatric patients with cranial irradiation.

BACKGROUND: During initial treatments, pediatric cancer patients are frequently hospitalized for fever, which may be due to neutropenia or a manifestation of the somnolence syndrome (SS) after cranial radiation therapy (CRT). This was a retrospective chart review of patients who received CRT for central nervous system prophylaxis or treatment in acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoma. OBSERVATIONS: Of 21 patients, 15 (71%) developed SS; 10 were hospitalized for fever. Comparing somnolent and nonsomnolent patients, there was no statistically significant difference in the admission absolute neutrophil count; radiation dose, fraction, or duration; and time between completion of CRT and first hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: In postradiation phase, patients with SS are more likely to get fever leading to hospital admission regardless of ANC.

Haemophilus Influenzae contributes to morbidity but not mortality in severely burned patients.

Due to a successful Haemophilus Influenzae (HIF) vaccination program, this pathogen is no longer a major contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality. The effect on adult acquisition of HIF is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine HIF infection frequency in severely burned patients. In a 62-month period, there were 1486 admissions. Twenty-four of 1,486 (1.6%) burn patients had HIF pneumonia: 16 (1%) within 72 h after injury; 8 (0.5%) patients developed it after the seventh day of hospitalization; 74 of 1,486 (5.0%) burn patients had pneumonia due to other organisms. There was no statistically significant difference between patients with HIF pneumonia and those with other pathogens with respect to age, race, sex, percent total body surface area (TBSA), inhalation injury, ventilator days, intensive care days, sepsis, or mortality. Nineteen percent of patients with HIF were<14 years of age compared to 12% in the other pneumonia group, p<0.01. HIF contributed to both an early and late pneumonia in burn patients. The organism responded to treatment and did not affect mortality.

Trends in burn research as reflected in American Burn Association presentations, 1998 to 2003.

The American Burn Association (ABA) mission promotes burn care, research, rehabilitation, teaching, and prevention. Therefore, we sought to determine recent burn research trends by reviewing 1595 accepted abstracts from the Proceedings of the American Burn Association from 1998 to 2003. This study encompassed a retrospective, descriptive audit of ABA abstracts accepted for presentation, including topic, institution, accreditation status, and presentation. Overall, Shriners Hospitals for Children (SH) provided 31%, non-Shriners burn centers (N-S) provided 53%, international and nonburn center hospitals provided 13%, and multicenter ventures provided 2% of the abstracts. Abstract topics addressed most frequently in this time period were cell biology 271 (17%), general care 240 (15%), and pain 235 (15%). Multicenter trials were negligible from the period of 1998 to 2000 but increased to 3% to 4% annually since 2001. In 2003, 39 of 128 (30%) of U.S. burn centers were accredited and delivered 67% of the presentations. SH abstracts increased from 26% in 1998 to 35% in 2003, whereas the N-S decreased from 61% to 48%. Thirty-seven percent of the abstracts reported prospective studies, 28% retrospective, and basic research abstracts comprised 18%. Four SH and 91 N-S (U.S.) hospitals primarily shared the podium, although N-S presentations decreased annually since 1998. On the basis of 2003 ABA/ACS accreditation data, there was an association between accreditation and research activity. SH and N-S collaborative studies for better patient care are the trend for the future as burn centers pool data and resources.

A prospective trial comparing lymphangiogram, cross-sectional imaging, and positron emission tomography scan in the detection of lymph node metastasis in locally advanced cervical cancer.

PURPOSE: This study prospectively evaluated the use of lymphangiogram, computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of lymph node metastasis in patients receiving definitive chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients underwent lymphangiogram, computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging, and PET. There was no histologic verification of metastasis. Four lymph node regions, including the internal, external, and common iliacs, and para-aortic, were scored as positive or negative for metastasis. Agreement between imaging was analyzed using multirater kappa and disease-free survival utilizing Kaplan Meier survival curves and log-rank test. RESULTS: Agreement between imaging was most consistent in the common iliacs (P < 0.001) and least in the para-aortic region (P = 0.41). Disease-free survival (DFS) at one year was statistically associated with positive PET imaging (25%) versus negative PET imaging (86%) (P = 0.033) in the common iliac lymph node region. No other single lymph node region in any modality was statistically associated with DFS. One-year DFS in patients with any positive areas on PET imaging was 50% compared with 90% in patients with negative PET imaging (P = 0.02). Seven patients were noted to have no metastasis in any region by all 3 of the imaging modalities; the 1-year DFS in these 7 patients was 100% compared with 59% in the 13 patients with any positive nodal area (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Positive lymphadenopathy on PET imaging was associated with reduced DFS.