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1.
Detection of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome using nitrogen multiple breath washout in children post-haemopoietic stem cell transplant
Westrupp, N., Berry, C. D., Cole, T., Shanthikumar, S., Welsh, L.
Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2024
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is a severe complication following haemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and is often undetected until there is significant deterioration in pulmonary function. Lung clearance index (LCI(2.5)) derived from the nitrogen multiple breath washout (N(2)MBW) test may be more feasible and sensitive than spirometry, which is currently used for surveillance and detection of BOS. OBJECTIVE We aimed to examine the feasibility of performing surveillance N(2)MBW in children post-HSCT, and in an exploratory analysis, determine if LCI(2.5) led to earlier detection of BOS when compared to spirometric indices. STUDY DESIGN Participants aged 5 - 17 years were recruited prior to receiving HSCT into a prospective, single-centre, feasibility study at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. N(2)MBW and spirometry were performed within the month prior to transplant and repeated at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-transplant. Data were also collected on the presence of graft-versus-host (GVHD) disease in any organ, including the lungs. RESULTS Twenty-one (12 male) children with a mean age of 13.4 (range 9.2-17.1) years at recruitment participated in this study. Prior to HSCT, all participants had normal LCI(2.5), while 16 (76%) demonstrated normal forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)). Ninety-nine percent of N(2)MBW tests were technically acceptable, compared with 66% of spirometry tests. Three participants developed BOS, while two participants died of other respiratory complications. At 6 and 12 months post-transplant, the BOS group had increases in LCI(2.5) ranging from 3 to 5 units and mean reductions in FEV(1) % predicted of 40% to 53% relative to pre HSCT values, respectively. In those who developed BOS, post-HSCT LCI(2.5) values were significantly worse when compared with the no BOS group (p<0.001). Relative changes in LCI(2.5) and FEV(1) were both predictive of BOS at 6 months post HSCT. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that N(2)MBW is a more feasible test compared with spirometry in children post HSCT. However, in an exploratory analysis, LCI(2.5) did not lead to earlier detection of BOS, when compared to spirometry.
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Pre-transplant glomerular hyperfiltration is not a risk factor for increased renal morbidity and mortality in pediatric stem cell transplant patients
Sarkar, N., Myers, K. C., Lane, A., Davies, S. M., Benoit, S. W.
Pediatric blood & cancer. 2024;:e30853
Abstract
Low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) prior to stem cell transplant (SCT) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The implications of abnormally high GFRs, or glomerular hyperfiltration, prior to SCT are unknown. Twenty-two of 74 consecutive pediatric SCT patients over 2 years old at a single center were hyperfiltrating prior to SCT, median nuclear medicine GFR 154 mL/min/1.73 m(2) [interquartile range: 146-170]. There was no association between hyperfiltration and any transplant demographics, nor between hyperfiltration and acute kidney injury (p = .8), renal replacement therapy (p = .63), 1-year event-free survival (p = 1), or abnormal creatinine-based estimated GFR at a median follow-up of 4.7 years (p = .73).
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Point shear-wave elastography for the diagnosis of veno-occlusive disease in children and young adults
Cañas, T., Suárez, O., Rozas, I., Escribano, M., Molina, B., González-Vicent, M., Maciá, A.
Pediatric radiology. 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatic veno-occlusive disease or sinusoidal obstruction syndrome is a potentially life-threatening complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. OBJECTIVE To assess the usefulness of point shear-wave elastography (pSWE) for the early diagnosis of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study was carried out in 43 patients with suspected SOS assessed between March 2018 and November 2021. Diagnosis of SOS was confirmed in 28 patients based on the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation diagnostic criteria. Abdominal ultrasound and pSWE of the liver were performed before and after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation on first suspicion of SOS. RESULTS Liver stiffness on initial suspicion was higher in patients diagnosed with SOS and these values increased compared to the pre-transplantation values. A cutoff value of 1.37 m/s was found for the diagnosis of SOS, with an area under the curve of 0.779 (95% CI 0.61-0.93). CONCLUSION Point shear wave elastography of the liver is a promising technique for the early diagnosis of pediatric SOS.
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Intensive Care Risk and Long-Term Outcomes in Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients
Zinter, M. S., Brazauskas, R., Strom, J., Chen, S., Bo-Subait, S., Sharma, A., Beitinjaneh, A., Dimitrova, D., Guilcher, G., Preussler, J. M., et al
Blood advances. 2023
Abstract
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) can be complicated by life-threatening organ toxicity and infection necessitating intensive care. Epidemiologic data have been limited by single-center studies, poor database granularity, and a lack of long-term survivors. To identify contemporary trends in ICU utilization and long-term outcomes, we merged data from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and the Virtual Pediatric Systems databases. We identified 6,995 pediatric HCT patients age ≤21 years who underwent 1st allogeneic HCT between 2008-2014 across 69 centers in the United States or Canada and followed patients until the year 2020. ICU admission was required for 1067 patients (8.3% by day +100, 12.8% by 1 year, and 15.3% by 5 years post-HCT), and was linked to demographic background, pre-transplant organ toxicity, allograft type and HLA-match, and the development of graft-versus-host disease or malignancy relapse. Survival to ICU discharge was 85.7% but more than half of ICU survivors required ICU readmission, leading to 52.5% and 42.6% survival at 1- and 5-years post-ICU transfer, respectively. ICU survival was worse among patients with malignant disease, poor pre-transplant organ function, and alloreactivity risk-factors. Among 1-year HCT survivors, those who required ICU in the first year had 10% lower survival at 5 years and developed new dialysis-dependent renal failure at a greater rate (p<0.001). Thus, while ICU management is common and survival to ICU discharge is high, ongoing complications necessitate recurrent ICU admission and lead to a poor 1-year outcome in select high-risk patients.
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Rare variants in complement system genes associate with endothelial damage after pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Leimi, L., Koski, J. R., Kilpivaara, O., Vettenranta, K., Lokki, A. I., Meri, S.
Frontiers in immunology. 2023;14:1249958
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Complement system has a postulated role in endothelial problems after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In this retrospective, singlecenter study we studied genetic complement system variants in patients with documented endotheliopathy. In our previous study among pediatric patients with an allogeneic HSCT (2001-2013) at the Helsinki University Children´s Hospital, Finland, we identified a total of 19/122 (15.6%) patients with vascular complications, fulfilling the criteria of capillary leak syndrome (CLS), venoocclusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (VOD/SOS) or thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). METHODS We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) on 109 patients having an adequate pre-transplantation DNA for the analysis to define possible variations and mutations potentially predisposing to functional abnormalities of the complement system. In our data analysis, we focused on 41 genes coding for complement components. RESULTS 50 patients (45.9%) had one or several, nonsynonymous, rare germline variants in complement genes. 21/66 (31.8%) of the variants were in the terminal pathway. Patients with endotheliopathy had variants in different complement genes: in the terminal pathway (C6 and C9), lectin pathway (MASP1) and receptor ITGAM (CD11b, part of CR3). Four had the same rare missense variant (rs183125896; Thr279Ala) in the C9 gene. Two of these patients were diagnosed with endotheliopathy and one with capillary leak syndrome-like problems. The C9 variant Thr279Ala has no previously known disease associations and is classified by the ACMG guidelines as a variant of uncertain significance (VUS). We conducted a gene burden test with gnomAD Finnish (fin) as the reference population. Complement gene variants seen in our patient population were investigated and Total Frequency Testing (TFT) was used for execution of burden tests. The gene variants seen in our patients with endotheliopathy were all significantly (FDR < 0.05) enriched compared to gnomAD. Overall, 14/25 genes coding for components of the complement system had an increased burden of missense variants among the patients when compared to the gnomAD Finnish population (N=10 816). DISCUSSION Injury to the vascular endothelium is relatively common after HSCT with different phenotypic appearances suggesting yet unidentified underlying mechanisms. Variants in complement components may be related to endotheliopathy and poor prognosis in these patients.
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6.
sVEGF-R1 in acute non-infectious toxicity syndromes after pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Horan, D. E., Kielsen, K., Weischendorff, S. W., Sørum, M. E., Kammersgaard, M. B., Ifversen, M., Nielsen, C., Ryder, L. P., Johansson, P. I., Müller, K.
Transplant immunology. 2023;82:101975
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Editor's Choice
Abstract
BACKGROUND Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is challenged by acute non-infectious toxicities, including sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), engraftment syndrome (ES) and capillary leak syndrome (CLS) among others. These complications are thought to be driven by a dysfunctional vascular endothelium, but the pathophysiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood, and the diagnoses are challenged by purely clinical diagnostic criteria that are partly overlapping, limiting the possibilities for progress in this field. There is, however, increasing evidence suggesting that these challenges may be met through the development of diagnostic biomarkers to improve diagnostic accuracy of pathogenetically homogenous entities, improved pre-transplant risk assessment and the early identification of patients with increased need for specific treatment. Soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sVEGF-R1) is emerging as an important biomarker of endothelial damage in patients with trauma and sepsis but has not been studied in HSCT. OBJECTIVES To investigate sVEGF-R1 as a marker of endothelial damage in pediatric HSCT patients by exploring associations with SOS, CLS, ES, and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD). METHODS We prospectively included 113 children undergoing myeloablative HSCT and measured sVEGF-R1 in plasma samples obtained weekly during the early period of transplantation and 3 months post-transplant. RESULTS All over, sVEGF-R1 levels were significantly increased from day +7 after graft infusion, peaking at day +30, most pronounced in patients receiving busulfan. Patients considered to be at increased risk of SOS and therefore commenced on prophylactic defibrotide had significantly elevated levels of sVEGF-R1 before start of conditioning (446 pg/mL vs. 281 pg/mL, p = 0.0035), and this treatment appeared to stabilize sVEGF-R1 levels compared to patients not treated with defibrotide. Thirteen (11.5%) children meeting the modified Seattle criteria for SOS at median day +8 (1-18), had significantly elevated sVEGF-R1 levels on day +14 (489 pg/mL vs. 327 pg/mL, p = 0.007). In contrast. sVEGF-R1 levels in the much broader group of patients (45.1%) meeting EBMT-SOS criteria, including patients with very mild disease, did not overall differ in sVEGF-R1 levels, but higher sVEGF-R1 levels were seen in EBMT-SOS patients with an increased need for diuretic treatment. Importantly, sVEGF-R1 levels were not associated with ES and CLS but were significantly increased on day +30 in patients with grade III-IV aGvHD (OR = 4.2 pr. quartile, p = 0.023). CONCLUSION VEGF-R1 levels are found to be increased in pediatric patients developing SOS, reflecting the severity of morbidity. sVEGF-R1 were unassociated with both CLS and ES. The potential of sVEGF-R1 as a clinically useful biomarker for SOS should be further explored to improve pre-transplant SOS-risk assessment, SOS-severity grading, and to guide treatment.
PICO Summary
Population
We prospectively included 113 children undergoing myeloablative HSCT
Intervention
Measurement of sVEGF-R1 in plasma samples obtained weekly during the early period of transplantation and 3 months post-transplant to explore associations with sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), capillary leak syndrome (CLS), engraftment syndrome (ES), and acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD)
Comparison
None
Outcome
All over, sVEGF-R1 levels were significantly increased from day +7 after graft infusion, peaking at day +30, most pronounced in patients receiving busulfan. Patients considered to be at increased risk of SOS and therefore commenced on prophylactic defibrotide had significantly elevated levels of sVEGF-R1 before start of conditioning (446 pg/mL vs. 281 pg/mL), and this treatment appeared to stabilize sVEGF-R1 levels compared to patients not treated with defibrotide. Thirteen (11.5%) children meeting the modified Seattle criteria for SOS at median day +8 (1-18), had significantly elevated sVEGF-R1 levels on day +14 (489 pg/mL vs. 327 pg/mL). In contrast. sVEGF-R1 levels in the much broader group of patients (45.1%) meeting EBMT-SOS criteria, including patients with very mild disease, did not overall differ in sVEGF-R1 levels, but higher sVEGF-R1 levels were seen in EBMT-SOS patients with an increased need for diuretic treatment. Importantly, sVEGF-R1 levels were not associated with ES and CLS but were significantly increased on day +30 in patients with grade III-IV aGvHD (OR = 4.2 pr. quartile).
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Intestinal permeability of stem cell transplant patients correlates with systemic acute phase responses and dysbiosis
Wang, Y. M., Abdullah, S., Luebbering, N., Langenberg, L., Duell, A., Lake, K., Lane, A., Hils, B., Vázquez Silva, O., Trapp, M., et al
Blood advances. 2023
Abstract
Intestinal permeability may correlate with adverse outcomes during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), but longitudinal quantification with traditional oral mannitol and lactulose is not feasible in HSCT recipients due to mucositis and diarrhea. A modified lactulose:rhamnose (LR) assay is validated in children with environmental enteritis. Our study objective was to quantify peri-HSCT intestinal permeability changes using the modified LR assay. The LR assay was administered pretransplant, Day+7 and +30 to 80 pediatric and young adult allogeneic HSCT patients. Lactulose and rhamnose were detected by urine mass spectrometry and expressed as an L:R ratio. Metagenomic shotgun sequencing of stool for microbiome analyses and ELISA analyses of plasma lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), ST2, REG3α, claudin1, occludin, and intestinal alkaline phosphatase were performed at the same timepoints. L:R ratios were increased at Day+7 but returned to baseline at Day+30 in most patients (p=0.014). Conditioning regimen intensity did not affect the trajectory of L:R (p=0.39). Baseline L:R ratios did not vary by diagnosis. L:R correlated with LBP levels (r2= 0.208, p=0.0014). High L:R ratios were associated with lower microbiome diversity (p=0.035), loss of anaerobic organisms (p=0.020) and higher plasma LBP (p=0.0014). No adverse gastrointestinal effects occurred due to LR. Intestinal permeability as measured by L:R ratios after allogeneic HSCT correlates with intestinal dysbiosis and elevated plasma LBP. The lactulose/rhamnose assay is well-tolerated and may identify transplant recipients more likely to experience adverse outcomes.
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Prospective assessment of risk biomarkers of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome after hematopoietic cell transplantation
Han, Y., Bidgoli, A., DePriest, B. P., Méndez, A., Bijangi-Vishehsaraei, K., Perez-Albuerne, E. D., Krance, R. A., Renbarger, J., Skiles, J. L., Choi, S. W., et al
JCI insight. 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND Currently, no laboratory tests exist to stratify for the risk of developing sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS), an early endothelial complication after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Risk biomarkers of SOS have not been verified in a prospective cohort accounting for differences between practices across institutions. Herein, we aimed to define risk groups for SOS occurrence using three proteins: L-Ficolin, Hyaluronic Acid (HA), and Stimulation-2 (ST2). METHODS Between 2017 to 2021, we prospectively accrued 80 pediatric patients across 4 US centers. Biomarkers were tested by ELISA blind to patient groupings and associated with SOS incidence at day 35 post-HCT, and overall survival (OS) at day 100 post-HCT. Cutpoints were identified using retrospective cohorts and applied to the prospective cohort. RESULTS Combination of the three biomarkers measured at day 3 post-HCT in the prospective cohort provided 80% (95%CI, 55-100%) sensitivity and 73% (95%CI, 62-83%) specificity for risk of SOS occurrence. Patients with low L-Ficolin were 9 times (95%CI 3-32) more likely to develop SOS, while patients with high HA and ST2 were 6.5 (95%CI 1.9-22.0) and 5.5 (95%CI 2.3-13.1) times more likely to develop SOS. These three markers also predicted worse day 100 OS [L-Ficolin: HR, 10.0 (95%CI 2.2-45.1), P=0.0002; HA: HR, 4.1 (95%CI 1.0-16.4), P=0.031; ST2: HR, 3.9 (95%CI 0.9-16.4), P=0.04]. CONCLUSION L-Ficolin, HA, and ST2 levels measured as early as three days post-HCT improved risk stratification for SOS occurrence and OS and may guide risk-adapted preemptive therapy. CLINICALTRIALS gov NCT03132337. FUNDING NICHD P50HD090215, R01HD074587, NCI R01CA168814 and NHLBI K24HL156896.
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Prognostic factors and predictive scores for 6-months mortality of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit
Schober, S., Huber, S., Braun, N., Döring, M., Lang, P., Hofbeck, M., Neunhoeffer, F., Renk, H.
Frontiers in oncology. 2023;13:1161573
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Despite advances in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), a considerable number of pediatric HSCT patients develops post-transplant complications requiring admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The objective of this study was to evaluate clinical findings, PICU supportive therapy and outcome as well as predictive factors for 6-months survival after discharge of HSCT patients from PICU. STUDY DESIGN This retrospective single-center analysis investigated patient characteristics, microbiological findings, reasons for admission and death of 54 cases accounting for 94 admissions to the PICU of the University Children's Hospital Tuebingen from 2002 to 2017. We compared clinical characteristics between children with and without 6-months survival after discharge from PICU following HSCT. Finally, we assessed the potential prognostic value of the oncological Pediatric Risk of Mortality Score (O-PRISM), the Pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score (pSOFA) and the pRIFLE Criteria for Acute Kidney Injury for 6-months survival using Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. RESULTS Respiratory insufficiency, gastroenterological problems and sepsis were the most common reasons for PICU admission. Out of 54 patients, 38 (70%) died during or after their last PICU admission, 30% survived for at least six months. When considering only first PICU admissions, we could not determine prognostic factors for 6-months mortality. In contrast, under consideration of all PICU admissions in the GEE model, ventilation (p=0.03) and dialysis (p=0.007) were prognostic factors for 6-months mortality. Furthermore, pSOFA (p=0.04) and O-PRISM (p=0.02) were independent risk factors for 6-months mortality considering all PICU admissions. CONCLUSION Admission of HSCT patients to PICU is still associated with poor outcome and 69% of patients died within 6 months. Need for respiratory support and dialysis are associated with poor outcome. Prediction of 6-months survival is difficult, especially during a first PICU admission. However, on subsequent PICU admissions pSOFA and O-PRISM scores might be useful to predict mortality. These scores should be prospectively evaluated in further studies to verify whether they can identify pediatric HSCT recipients profiting most from transferal to the PICU.
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10.
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage after hematopoietic cell transplantation- response to treatments and risk factors for mortality
Schoettler, M. L., Dandoy, C. E., Harris, A., Chan, M., Tarquinio, K. M., Jodele, S., Qayed, M., Watkins, B., Kamat, P., Petrillo, T., et al
Frontiers in oncology. 2023;13:1232621
Abstract
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a life-threatening complication of hematopoietic cellular therapy (HCT). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of DAH treatments on outcomes using data from consecutive HCT patients clinically diagnosed with DAH from 3 institutions between January 2018-August 2022. Endpoints included sustained complete response (sCR) defined as bleeding cessation without recurrent bleeding, and non-relapse mortality (NRM). Forty children developed DAH at a median of 56.5 days post-HCT (range 1-760). Thirty-five (88%) had at least one concurrent endothelial disorder, including transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (n=30), sinusoidal obstructive syndrome (n=19), or acute graft versus host disease (n=10). Fifty percent had a concurrent pulmonary infection at the time of DAH. Common treatments included steroids (n=17, 25% sCR), inhaled tranexamic acid (INH TXA,n=26, 48% sCR), and inhaled recombinant activated factor VII (INH fVIIa, n=10, 73% sCR). NRM was 56% 100 days after first pulmonary bleed and 70% at 1 year. Steroid treatment was associated with increased risk of NRM (HR 2.25 95% CI 1.07-4.71, p=0.03), while treatment with INH TXA (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.19- 0.96, p=0.04) and INH fVIIa (HR 0.22, 95% CI 0.07-0.62, p=0.005) were associated with decreased risk of NRM. Prospective studies are warranted to validate these findings.