Effects of COVID-19 on Pediatric Cancer Care: A Multicenter Study of 11 Middle Eastern Countries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, major challenges are facing pediatric cancer centers regarding access to cancer centers, continuity of the anti-cancer therapy, hospital admission, and infection protection precautions. Pediatric oncologists actively treating children with cancer from 29 cancer centers at 11 countries were asked to answer a survey from May 2020 to August 2020 either directly or through the internet. COVID-19 pandemic affected the access to pediatric cancer care in the form of difficulty in reaching the center in 22 (75.9%) centers and affection of patients' flow in 21 (72.4%) centers. Health care professionals (HCP) were infected with COVID-19 in 20 (69%) surveyed centers. Eighteen centers (62%) modified the treatment guidelines. Care of follow-up patients was provided in-hospital in 8(27.6%) centers, through telemedicine in 10 (34.5%) centers, and just delayed in 11 (38%) centers. Pediatric oncologists had different expectations about the future effects of COVID-19 on pediatric cancer care. Seventy-six percent of pediatric oncologists think the COVID-19 pandemic will increase the use of telemedicine. Fifty-five percent of pediatric oncologists think if the COVID-19 pandemic persists, we will need to change chemotherapy protocols to less myelosuppressive ones. Collaborative studies are required to prioritize pediatric cancer management during COVID-19 era.

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the Middle East and neighboring countries: a prospective multi-institutional international collaborative study (CALLME1) by the Middle East Childhood Cancer Alliance (MECCA).

BACKGROUND: Little is known about childhood ALL in the Middle East. This study was undertaken by MECCA as initial efforts in collaborative data collection to provide clinical and demographic information on children with ALL in the Middle East. PROCEDURE: Clinical and laboratory data for patients with ALL between January 2008 and April 2012 were prospectively collected from institutions in 14 Middle East countries and entered into a custom-built-database during induction phase. All laboratory studies including cytogenetics were done at local institutions. RESULTS: The 1,171 voluntarily enrolled patients had a mean age of 6.1 ± 3.9 years and 59.2% were boys. T-ALL represented 14.8% and 84.2% had B-precursor ALL. At diagnosis, 5.6% had CNS disease. The distribution of common genetic abnormalities reflected a similar percentage of hyperdiploidy (25.6%), but a lower percentage of ETV6-RUNX1 translocation (14.7%) compared to large series reported from Western populations. By clinical criteria, 47.1% were low/standard risk, 16.9% were intermediate risk, and 36% were high risk. Most patients received all their care at the same unit (96.9%). Patients had excellent induction response to chemotherapy with an overall complete remission rate of 96%. Induction toxicities were acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: This first collaborative study has established a process for prospective data collection and future multinational collaborative research in the Middle East. Despite the limitations of an incomplete population-based study, it provides the first comprehensive baseline data on clinical characteristics, laboratory evaluation, induction outcome, and toxicity. Further work is planned to uncover possible biologic differences of ALL in the region and to improve diagnosis and management.

Superabsorbent hydrogel based on sulfonated-starch for improving water and saline absorbency.

The agriculture sectors in many developing countries have been suffering from water shortage and decreasing crop yields. Thus, an increasing interest has been emerged to develop much-needed solutions for a more sustainable management of water resources. Agricultural hydrogel that absorbs many times of its weight in water has been used to distribute into dry regions in order to improve the soil's ability to absorb and retain water. Here, amphoteric superabsorbent hydrogel is prepared by indirect method based on anionic starch bearing sulfonate groups. Anionic starch derivatives were graft-polymerized with acrylonitrile (AN) and hydrolyzed by alkaline by which nitrile groups were converted to hydrophilic functional groups. The hydrolyzed sodium starch sulfate-g-polyacrylonitrile (HSSS-g-PAN) copolymer exhibited improved water and saline absorbencies compared to that of native starch-based hydrogel. The co-polymerization was conducted for 60min polymerization time, 0.75% (wt/wt) ammonium persulfate (APS) associated with sodium bisulfite, SBS, (50% (wt/wt) of APS), 65°C for polymerization temperature and double molar ratio of acrylonitrile to the starch derivatives. The hydrogel based on the sulfonated starch derivatives 1 and 2 showed superior water absorbency for both distilled (250% and 190% respectively) and saline (90% and 70%) solutions over that of the native starch.

Hepatobiliary Complications of Sickle Cell Disease among Children Admitted to Al Wahda Teaching Hospital, Aden, Yemen.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe the pattern of hepatobiliary complications among patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) and to assess their correlation with age, gender and other risk factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed 106 patients with SCD who were admitted to Al Wahda Teaching Hospital in Aden, Yemen, between January and June 2009. A full history, thorough examination, essential laboratory investigations (including a complete blood count, liver function test and viral markers test) and an abdominal ultrasound were performed on all patients. The clinicopathological characteristics of the hepatobiliary complications were analysed for their correlation to different risk factors such as age and gender. RESULTS: It was found that 46.2% of the patients with SCD had hepatobiliary complications. Of these, 36.7% had viral hepatitis, 26.0% had cholecystitis and 20% had gallstones. A total of 60.4% of the affected patients were male. The mean levels of alanine aminotransferase (59.4 and 56.0 U/L) and aspartate transaminase (40.1 and 38.3 U/L) were significantly elevated in patients with viral hepatitis and cholecystitis, respectively. Hepatitis B virus surface antigen showed higher positivity (10.4%) than anti-hepatitis A and anti-hepatitis C antibodies. Hepatobiliary complications increased significantly with age and were notably higher among those who were often admitted to hospital and/or underwent frequent blood transfusions. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that hepatobiliary complications are common among SCD patients and the likelihood of developing such complications increases as patients age. Thus, regular clinical follow-ups, abdominal ultrasound studies and periodic liver function tests, as well as serological tests for viral hepatitis, are strongly recommended. These can help in the early detection of these complications and allow opportunities for their management and prevention.