Cornelio Uderzo

BACKGROUND Patients (pts) undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for hematological childhood disorders might present long-term cardiac and pulmonary function (CPF) complications. The current study assessed incidence and risk factors of CPF late sequelae by a multicenter study. METHODS From March 1994 to December 1997 we enrolled 220 consecutive children (130 males, median age at BMT 9,5 yrs) who underwent BMT (162 allogeneic and 58 autologous) for malignant (193) and non malignant (27) diseases in 9 EBMT centers. Total body irradiation (TBI) based conditioning regimen was used in 120/220 pts. A total of 165/220 pts were alive at the end of the study with a reliable CPF assessment which consisted of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and M-Mode echocardiography performed at pre-BMT phase, at 1st year post-BMT and yearly. Statistical analysis to evaluate the difference between pre-BMT and post-BMT CPF was performed by paired t-test, while the assessment of risk factors was based on...

Relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) after allogeneic transplant has very poor prognosis; whether early prediction of relapse by means of minimal residual disease (MRD) analysis could allow effective treatment is still to be assessed. Eighteen patients at high risk of relapse were prospectively monitored in a single transplant center. MRD analysis and clinical follow up were completed for the first series of 11 patients. This includes 9 males and 2 females (median age 11ys, range 2–16) who received allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from compatible (5), one locus mismatched (1) or haploidentical (1) related or unrelated (4) donor for ALL in 1st (5), 2nd (4), or 3rd (2) complete remission (CR), after conditioning regimen containing total body irradiation (TBI) and etoposide (9) or others, and GVHD prophylaxis consisting of cyclosporine, associated with ATG in transplant from other than compatible related donor. Grafts consisted of unmanipulated bone marrow (...

Leukemia recurrence is the most common cause of treatment failure in children with ALL. The prognosis relapsed ALL mainly depends on the site of recurrence, time between diagnosis and relapse and immune-phenotype, children with bone marrow relapse occurring within the first 30 months after diagnosis or with T-ALL being those with the worst prognosis. Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is considered the treatment of choice for many children with relapsed ALL. We report the outcome of 175 children with ALL in second complete remission given HSCT from either a relative or an unrelated donor (UD) in one of the Italian AIEOP Centers from1998 to 2002. Less than 10% of these patients had an isolated extra-medullary relapse. TBI was employed in the preparative regimen in 92% of patients. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of Cs-A alone in the vast majority of children transplanted from a relative, whereas the combination of Cs-A, short-term MTX and either ALG, or Campath-1G ...

Aim: To assess the role of autologous transplantation (AT) compared with chemotherapy (CT) for low risk relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Patients and Methods: Since 1997 at a single Institution, 30 pediatric consecutive patients (pts), lacking a compatible related donor, underwent immunologically purified peripheral stem cell AT, for B cell precursor ALL in second remission (CR2) after late (>30 ms after diagnosis) or extra-medullary (BM) relapse, belonging to S1–S2 BFM risk group. Since 2000 the positivity of minimal residual disease (MRD) at transplant was considered an exclusion criterium. For each AT patient all possible controls were selected among 236 S1 or S2 pts in CR2 treated with CT in all BFM Centers, matched for: site of relapse, CR1 duration, relapse period and waiting time to transplant. Outcome data are expressed according to the KM estimator for the AT group; a weighted version of the KM estimator is used for the CT group in order to account...

Between May 1980 and April 1987, 49 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in isolated testicular and first leukemia relapse (ITR) were enrolled in the Associazione Italiana Ematologia ed Oncologia Pediatrica (AIEOP) multicenter study REC80-ITR. According to the Rome Workshop criteria, 77% were at standard and 23% at high initial prognostic risk. In 33% of the cases, ITR occurred during first treatment. The REC80-ITR protocol consisted of an induction phase regimen of vincristine (VCR), cytarabine (ARA-C), methotrexate (MTX), and asparaginase (L-asp), and bilateral testicular irradiation, and CNS prophylaxis with intrathecal MTX and a maintenance phase with a multidrug rotating regimen. Total treatment duration was 30 months. The median time of observation after ITR was 51 months. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival and disease-free survival (DFS) at 4 years were 67.7% and 41%, respectively. Patients who had an ITR on therapy or within the first off-therapy year showed ...

The role of autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) in childhood ALL after an isolated extramedullary (IE) relapse is controversial. Between December 1984 and November 1995, 52 children underwent ABMT because of an IE relapse. The data were stored in the AIEOP-BMT Registry. Thirty four children were transplanted in 2nd CR; eighteen > 2nd CR. The median duration of 1st CR was 24 (range 3-69) and 18 (range 3-59) months, respectively. The median interval from last CR to ABMT was 6 (range 1-28) and 3 (range 1-81) months, respectively. The 5 year EFS for patients transplanted in 2nd CR was 67.7%, while the 3 year EFS for patients in > 2nd CR was 16.7%. In conclusion, ABMT was an effective treatment in early IE relapse only if performed in 2nd CR.

... Homme. ; Mots-clés espagnols / Spanish Keywords. Leucemia linfoblástica. ; Hemopatía maligna. ; Linfocito B. ; Niño. ; Estudio caso. ; Músculo estriado. ; Hombre. ; Localisation / Location. INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 21406, 35400001022830.0090. Nº notice refdoc (ud4) : 5042744 ...

There is a growing interest in the emotional status of parents and siblings after the death of a child with chronic disease. For the past 7 years physicians at our center have systematically contacted parents who lost a child because of leukemia within the first few months after the death. From this experience it appears that most parents needed to talk at least once with the physicians who took care of their child. As expected, some parents and siblings were found to have significant psychological problems and to need psychologic support. We suggest that the opportunity to talk with a physician of the attending staff should be provided routinely to parents shortly after the death of a child from leukemia.

Granulocytic sarcoma (GS) is a localized destructive tumor mass composed of immature cells of the granulocytic series, occurring before, concomitantly, or after the overt development of acute or chronic myelogenous leukemia. Although this tumor is known to occur in almost every site of the body, cardiac involvement is rare. We report a case of a 12-year-old female previously treated for 28 months with chemotherapy for acute promyelocytic leukemia, who presented with GS in the left mastoid 3 months after discontinuing treatment. The patient was treated with local radiotherapy only. Thirty months later she presented with heart failure, the result of a right-sided intracardiac mass, while in continuous hematological remission of the primary disease and off therapy. The cardiovascular, hematological, and postmortem findings are described and the literature is reviewed. This is the first clinicopathologic report of GS involving the heart in which the echocardiographic and pathologic findings are detailed.

Unusual sites of relapses following bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are rarely reported. We report the case of a 16‐year‐old girl who presented with an isolated right breast relapse 8 months after allogeneic BMT for ALL in second remission. Biopsy showed an ALL infiltrate. Bone marrow and CSF were normal. The girl never showed before extramedullary involvement. She was treated with local radiotherapy and mild systemic chemotherapy. Nine months after breast relapse, she presented an isolated central nervous system relapse. The treatment of isolated extramedullary relapses following BMT is still controversial.

Background and objectives. Platelet transfusions are currently used to prevent haemorrhagic events in oncohaematological patients. Recently, platelet concentrates from multicomponent collection have been introduced in several blood collection facilities. ...

Neuroblastoma was diagnosed in a child after a 20-month remission of a pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Clumps of atypical cells suggestive of neuroblastoma were seen in the bone marrow. They were positive for monoclonal antibody (MoAb) UJ13A (neuroblastoma cells) and negative for MoAb T29/33 (anti-leucocyte common antigen CD45) with immunocytochemical staining. A right paravertebral mass displacing the kidney was demonstrated by abdominal echotomography, and serum vanilmandelic acid was slightly increased. Despite specific chemotherapy against neuroblastoma and after a transient clinical improvement, the patient died 7 months later of disseminated disease. Immunocytochemical staining on cells frozen at diagnosis of leukemia with MoAb UJ13A and T29/33 was unable to demonstrate neuroblastoma cells and showed the pattern usually observed in leukemia (UJ13A- and T29/33+).

Summary. This study aimed to ascertain whether extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) is an effective treatment for paediatric patients with refractory graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD). From January 1992 to December 2000, 77 children (median age 8·6 years) with either acute (n = 33) or chronic (n = 44) GVHD, resistant to conventional immunosuppressive therapy, were treated with ECP in four Italian paediatric hospitals. After ECP, acute GVHD involving skin, liver and gut responded completely in 76%, 60% and 75% of patients respectively. The 5‐year overall survival was 69% for responding patients vs 12% for non‐responders (P = 0·001). Among the 44 children with chronic GVHD, 15 (44%) showed a complete response and 10 (29%) a significant improvement after ECP. The 5‐year overall survival was 96% for responders vs 58% for non‐responders (P = 0·04). Our results suggest that ECP is an effective treatment that may be useful in paediatric patients with either acute or chronic GVHD who have ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Unrelated donor bone marrow transplant (UD-BMT) has become an attractive, alternative source of hematopoietic cells for patients lacking a matched sibling. The aim of this paper is to report on 520 patients below 19 years of age undergoing UD BMT in 31 Italian centers between September 1989 and December 2001, and to focus on the results achieved in the 423 patients grafted before December 2000. DESIGNS AND METHODS In 1989 the Italian Bone Marrow Transplant Group (GITMO) and the Italian Association for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (AIEOP) established the Italian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (IBMDR) to facilitate donor search and marrow procurement for patients lacking an HLA identical sibling. By the end of December 2001, 296,720 HLA-A, B typed volunteer donors had been cumulatively registered and 3,411 searches had been activated for Italian patients. At least one HLA-A, B, DRB1 matched donor was found for 54% of the patients and 520 UD BMTs were perform...

Introduction Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) might costitute a severe complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) with a variable incidence depending on different diagnostic criteria adopted in the past. Patients and Methods The current study enrolled 551 consecutive patients (pts) (314 males, median age 29 years) undergoing HSCT from January 2000 to April 2005 from HLA match (m) or mismatch (mm) family donor (350/551) and unrelated donor (201/551) for malignant (501/551) or non malignant diseases (50/551). The diagnosis of TTP was performed on the basis of homogeneous five clinical and seven laboratory criteria. Univariate (by chi square test and Fisher’s exact test) or multivariate (by logistic regression method) analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of some candidate risk factors on both TTP occurrence and outcome. Results Sixty four of 551 pts presented TTP (11,6%) at a median time of 47 days post-HSCT; 59/64 were affected by malignant an...

3344 Poster Board III-232 Background: Hepatic VOD is a life-threatening complication following SCT with a high incidence in children. Development of VOD is one of the most common causes of early death after SCT. Busulfan (BU), an alkylating agent with a very narrow therapeutic index is a commonly used conditioning agent in pediatric stem cell transplantation (SCT) with a strong correlation between AUC and both efficacy and toxicity. Oral BU (poBU) has significant age-related and interpatient pharmacokinetic differences and was linked with an increased risk for VOD. IV busulfan (ivBU) yielded promising results in some studies to be associated with low toxicity profile, especially with a reduced incidence of VOD. Methods: Patients <18 years with myeloablative SCT were included in a prospective multicenter phase II/III trial to evaluate the efficacy of Defibrotide (DF). Eligibility criteria included conditioning with BU…

653 Background: Hepatic VOD is a life-threatening complication following SCT with a particularly high incidence in children. Development of VOD is one of the most common causes of early death after SCT. DF (Gentium SpA), a polydisperse oligonucleotide, demonstrates a protective effect on vascular endothelial cells in vitro. Small non-randomized trials to assess DF for the prophylaxis of VOD were promising without significant anticoagulant effects. Methods: Eligibility criteria included pts <18 years with myeloablative SCT and at least 1 of the following high risk criteria for VOD: conditioning with busulfan and melphalan, pre-existing liver disease, 2nd myeloablative transplant, allo-SCT for leukemia in 2nd relapse, macrophage activating syndromes, prior abdominal irradiation, prior gemtuzumab, osteopetrosis, and adrenoleukodystrophy. Pts were prospectively randomized to the control arm (no prophylactic DF) or to receive DF 25mg/kg/day IV from the start of conditioning until D+30...

Thrombotic microangiopathy is a severe microvascular disorder which may occur in up to 70% of patients undergoing bone marrow transplant. Clinically the term thrombotic microangiopathy encompasses a wide spectrum of syndromes, most importantly the thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Thrombotic microangiopathy is characterized by the presence of thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, renal impairment, neurological disturbances and multiorgan failure. Several causative agents have been advocated as triggering factors for bone marrow transplant associated thrombotic microangiopathy, including cyclosporine, FK506, the use of total body irradiation, infections and the presence of severe graft-versus-host disease. Plasma exchange represents the standard treatment for patients who develop TTP/HUS after bone marrow transplant, however, the mortality rate still remains high despite aggressive therapy.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for approximately one third of all cancers in children and its outcome depends on risk factors at the time of diagnosis. While uniform chemotherapy adopted in multicenter studies provided a constant improvement in cure rates for standard risk patients, the results reached in very high risk patients have been disappointing. The objective of this review is to point out the role of allogenic bone marrow transplantation (alloBMT) in very high risk childhood ALL on the basis of results from the current clinical trials. EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION SOURCE: Data covered by Medline and produced by the authors involved in ongoing international studies cover a vast "scenario" of children with very high risk ALL who underwent allogeneic BMT. The author outlines the crucial point of very high risk factors in childhood ALL in order to identify those children who are at risk of early relapse. The main reasons for pursuing alloBMT in this particular category of patients concern poor prognostic factors such as molecular biology markers, structural chromosomal abnormalities and biological factors (poor prednisone response) including resistance to initial induction chemotherapy. AlloBMT in childhood ALL in first complete remission seemed to lead to a promising disease-free survival in this patient population when compared with chemotherapy. The principal biases of the retrospective studies were the variable very high risk eligibility criteria, the different first-line therapies adopted before alloBMT and above all the waiting time to transplant which could have accounted for some advantage to alloBMT patients versus chemotherapy patients. The author touches upon the preliminary results of an ongoing international prospective study as an example of reaching a consensus in the controversial treatment of childhood very high risk ALL. This attempt should provide more information regarding the role of alloBMT in this setting and should cover an area of particular interest.

Abstract 3344 Poster Board III-232 Background: Hepatic VOD is a life-threatening complication following SCT with a high incidence in children. Development of VOD is one of the most common causes of early death after SCT. Busulfan (BU), an alkylating agent with a very narrow therapeutic index is a commonly used conditioning agent in pediatric stem cell transplantation (SCT) with a strong correlation between AUC and both efficacy and toxicity. Oral BU (poBU) has significant age-related and interpatient pharmacokinetic differences and was linked with an increased risk for VOD. IV busulfan (ivBU) yielded promising results in some studies to be associated with low toxicity profile, especially with a reduced incidence of VOD. Methods: Patients <18 years with myeloablative SCT were included in a prospective multicenter phase II/III trial to evaluate the efficacy of Defibrotide (DF). Eligibility criteria included conditioning with BU…

Introduction: Adherence to international quality assurance standards is an increasingly global issue as the number of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) centers increases worldwide. Many newly developed HSCT programs, particularly in underserved low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), are faced with pressure to meet appropriate standards, contain costs and rely on remote consultancy. However, setting up and maintaining quality management (QM) programs can be time and resource consuming. Jagriti Innovations developed a web-based application (HSCT+) in partnership with the Cure2Children Foundation (C2C) that has been used since August 2008 by health professionals in Italy, Pakistan and India for the collaborative management of patients undergoing matched-related HSCT for Thalassemia Major (TM). Materials (or patients) and methods: HSCT+ was developed as a prospective patient management-oriented database, streamlining critical quality assurance issues such as patient-speci...

Even though severe thalassemia is a preventable disease, over 100,000 new cases are born yearly, particularly in the Middle East and South-East Asia. Most of these children may not reach adulthood because long-term appropriate supportive care is either inaccessible or unaffordable. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) remains the only available definitive cure and success rates can be very high in appropri-ately selected patients, i.e. low-risk younger children with a matched family donor. In these circumstances BMT may be justified medically, ethically as well as financially, in fact, the cost of low-risk BMT is equiv-alent to that of a few years of non-curative supportive. This manuscript will briefly review the current status of bone marrow transplantation for thalassemia major with particular emphasis on a global prospective and present the experience of the Cure2Children Foundation supporting sustainable and scalable start up BMT programs in low-resource set-tings. The initial twe...

A six-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in second remission un- derwent autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT). Despite normal cardiac function before autologous bone marrow transplantation, the patient was diagnosed with severe car- diac failure which was confirmed by EKG and ultrasound, showing an ejection fraction (EF) of 45%, six months after transplantation. The patient was adequately treated and periodically monitored, making a progressive improvement so that now, 62 months after the event, she conducts a normal healthy life (Lansky score: 100%) with no medication and a normal EF (61%).

Improvements in the management of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) did not prevent 20% to 30% of patients suffering from relapse. Moreover, the probability of relapse can rise up to 50% for some children presenting with very high risk (VHR) factors. Intensive chemotherapy and especially hematopoietic stem cell transplantation improved their outcome. The aim of this review is to assess the role of different approaches in the treatment of childhood VHR ALL on the basis of current data. Information on the ongoing international studies was obtained via Medline. Preliminary data from a prospective cooperative study are mentioned. During the last decade, different definitions of VHR factors in childhood ALL have been a crucial issue, so that therapeutic results of single or multicenter studies were difficult to compare. All investigators agreed in adopting most aggressive treatments in patients with poor prognostic factors such as molecular biological markers, chromosomal abno...

To assess the occurrence and possible causes of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in children with hematologic malignancies evaluated in a single pediatric hematology center. Four hundred fifty-two patients admitted for leukemia in different stages of disease were evaluated whenever they presented with PTE-related acute respiratory failure (ARF). Diagnosis was based on a perfusional lung scan and a digital pulmonary angiography in most cases. When necessary, patients with ARF were transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) for cardiorespiratory monitoring and support. Thrombolytic treatment was usually performed with urokinase at a loading dose of 2,000 to 4,560 IU/kg as single bolus followed by 2,000 to 4,530 IU/kg/h for 12 to 42 hours. Before thrombolytic therapy was discontinued, heparin was started at a daily dose of 100 to 500 IU/kg as a continuous infusion and continued for 6 to 26 days. Twelve of 452 children developed 17 PTE episodes, which were resolved completely...

Introduction Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) might costitute a severe complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) with a variable incidence depending on different diagnostic criteria adopted in the past. Patients and Methods The current study enrolled 551 consecutive patients (pts) (314 males, median age 29 years) undergoing HSCT from January 2000 to April 2005 from HLA match (m) or mismatch (mm) family donor (350/551) and unrelated donor (201/551) for malignant (501/551) or non malignant diseases (50/551). The diagnosis of TTP was performed on the basis of homogeneous five clinical and seven laboratory criteria. Univariate (by chi square test and Fisher’s exact test) or multivariate (by logistic regression method) analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of some candidate risk factors on both TTP occurrence and outcome. Results Sixty four of 551 pts presented TTP (11,6%) at a median time of 47 days post-HSCT; 59/64 were affected by malignant and 5/64 by non malignant diseases. Multivariate analysis showed GVHD >II° (p=0,0001), stem cell donors (m/mm unrelated or mm related) (p=0,024), female gender (p=0,0186),TBI-based conditioning regimen (p=0,03) and status of hematological remission (p=0,03) as factors influencing the occurrence of TTP. Only three predicting factors for TTP outcome have been demonstrated statistically significative by multivariate analysis: age (p=0,0186), stem cell donors (m/mm unrelated or mm related) (p=0,01) and TTP index (p=0,018). The TTP mortality rate was 40% while the outcome after TTP diagnosis was partially influenced by TTP treatment. In particular, Defibrotide seemed to be a promising drug in univariate analysis compared with alternative therapies for 34 alive and good responders pts out of 64 TTP pts. Conclusions The study underlines the possibility to identify those patients who are more prone to develop post-HSCT TTP, complication still frequent (11,6%) when homogeneous diagnostic criteria are adopted. TTP outcome seems to be conditioned by some peculiar risk factors as adult age, m/mm unrelated or mm related donors HSCTs. Prospective randomized therapeutic trials, focusing on the possible advantage of Defibrotide versus other treatments, should be encouraged.

Abstract 653 Background: Hepatic VOD is a life-threatening complication following SCT with a particularly high incidence in children. Development of VOD is one of the most common causes of early death after SCT. DF (Gentium SpA), a polydisperse oligonucleotide, demonstrates a protective effect on vascular endothelial cells in vitro. Small non-randomized trials to assess DF for the prophylaxis of VOD were promising without significant anticoagulant effects. Methods: Eligibility criteria included pts <18 years with myeloablative SCT and at least 1 of the following high risk criteria for VOD: conditioning with busulfan and melphalan, pre-existing liver disease, 2nd myeloablative transplant, allo-SCT for leukemia in 2nd relapse, macrophage activating syndromes, prior abdominal irradiation, prior gemtuzumab, osteopetrosis, and adrenoleukodystrophy. Pts were prospectively randomized to the control arm (no prophylactic DF) or to receive DF 25mg/kg/day IV from the start of conditioning until D+30 post SCT. All pts diagnosed with VOD received DF for treatment. Primary endpoint: incidence of hepatic VOD by D+30 using modified Seattle criteria (2 or more of the following: bilirubin > 2 mg/dL, hepatomegaly, ascites and/or unexplained weight gain > 5%). VOD was assessed by physical exam; hepatomegaly and ascites were confirmed by abdominal ultrasound. A blinded independent review committee of 3 expert hematologists confirmed the diagnosis of VOD. Although the study was not powered to assess mortality, a composite score was assessed as a secondary endpoint that incorporated VOD-associated toxicity (respiratory failure, renal failure, encephalopathy) and mortality. Incidence and severity of graft versus host disease (GvHD) was assessed. As the true incidence of VOD in this population was unknown, the trial incorporated a planned adaptive interim analysis to be reviewed by an independent DSMB. Results: Based on the recommendations of the DSMB, 360 pts were enrolled between January 2006 and January 2009 by 28 centers in the EU and Israel. An Intent-to-Treat (ITT) analysis was performed on all randomized pts who signed informed consent (DF: 180; control: 176). Median age was 4.8 years; 24% infants, 52% children (ages 2-11 years) and 23% adolescents. 41% were female, 59% male. 68% were allo-, 31% auto-SCT. There were no significant differences between the two arms in disease types or risk factors. Ninety-three percent (93%) of the patients completed the primary endpoint at day +30. In the ITT analysis, 12% (22/180) of the pts of the DF arm and 20% (35/176) of the control group developed VOD by D+30 (P=0.054); in the PP analysis, the VOD incidence was 12% (20/164) vs 21% (35/169) (P=0.037). VOD was experienced by 23% of the infants, 14% of the children and 13% of the adolescents. The composite score (assessing VOD morbidity and mortality) was significantly in favor of the DF arm (P=0.034). Significantly less acute GvHD by D+100 was reported in the DF pts (32% (57/180) vs 43% (75/176); P=0.023 by Wilcoxon test). Observation of VOD in either arm led to a higher mortality: mortality of pts with VOD equaled 24.6% (14/57) compared to 7% in pts without VOD (21/299). Renal failure was observed in 1% (2/180 pts) of DF pts vs 6% (10/176) of the control (P=0.017); respiratory failure was observed in 7% vs 9% (NS); and encephalopathy in 1% vs 2% (NS). SAEs were experienced by 58% of the DF pts vs 59% of the control, including infections (24% vs 27%) and respiratory disorders (12% vs 9%); 9 hemorrhagic events were seen in the DF arm compared to 21 in the control. Conclusions: This Phase II/III randomized study demonstrates the efficacy and safety of DF in preventing VOD in pediatric pts at high risk of VOD. Use of prophylactic DF results in a 40% reduction in the incidence of VOD. Consistent with the role of DF in endothelial protection, both renal failure and acute GvHD were significantly lower in the DF arm. Safety of DF was confirmed by lack of significant toxicity (including hemorrhage). DF can be recommended for the prevention of VOD in this high risk population. Disclosures: Corbacioglu: Gentium S.p.A.: Consultancy, Research Funding. Massaro:Gentium S.p.A.:…

This study was undertaken to evaluate the occurrence of VOD and other liver diseases following BMT in a patient population with a high incidence of hepatitis before conditioning regimen. We prospectively reviewed 186 consecutive patients undergoing BMT from 1976 to 1986 to determine incidence and type of liver disease after BMT and predisposing factors. Two of 186 patients experienced VOD (1.07%). Acute and chronic liver GVHD were found in 25.8% and 36% of the patients, respectively. Acute hepatitis (AH) was diagnosed in 29.4% and chronic hepatitis (CH) in 42.6% of the patients. Statistical analysis showed no influence of pretransplant variables on the occurrence of acute GVHD and AH; there was a weak correlation (P = 0.01) between pre-BMT abnormal transaminases and occurrence of chronic GVHD. Contingency table and Cox analysis showed a greater risk of CH for patients with abnormal pretransplant SGPT levels (P = 0.0004 and P = 0.0022). No other variables could be associated with posttransplant CH. Actuarial survival was 71% versus 69% for patients with normal versus abnormal transaminases (P = 0.2). As VOD was a rare event, despite 53% of patients having abnormal transaminase values before transplant, we suggest that a lower and slower TBI is more important than pretransplant normal transaminases in preventing this complication. We conclude that evidence of compensated hepatitis is not a relative contraindication for BMT.