Haematology

A comprehensive review of hydroxyurea for β-haemoglobinopathies: the role revisited during COVID-19 pandemic

Hydroxyurea is one of the earliest drugs that showed promise in the management of haemoglobinopathies that include β-thalassaemia and sickle cell disease. Despite this, many aspects of hydroxyurea are either u...

Authors: Nirmani Yasara, Anuja Premawardhena and Sachith Mettananda

Clinical analysis of chronic active EBV infection with coronary artery dilatation and a matched case–control study

To investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment, prognosis and risk factors for chronic active Epstein–Barr Virus infection (CAEBV) associated with coronary artery dilatation (CAD) in children.

Authors: Ang Wei, Honghao Ma, Liping Zhang, Zhigang Li, Yitong Guan, Qing Zhang, Dong Wang, Hongyun Lian, Rui Zhang and Tianyou Wang

Real-world evidence on Kovaltry (81-8973) in children with moderate or severe hemophilia A in Europe: a nested cohort analysis

Untreated hemophilia A patients may experience recurrent bleeding events leading to debilitating joint damages. While RCT and pharmacokinetic data support the value of Kovaltry [an unmodified full-length recom...

Authors: Jamie O’Hara, Ceri Hirst, Jose Francisco Cabre Marquez and Tom Burke

The prognostic role of plasma fibrinogen in adult secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

In adult patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH), no valid immune biomarker has been available for predicting the prognosis of untreated sHLH patients.

Authors: Guangli Yin, Changfeng Man, Jiayu Huang, Shengen Liao, Xin Gao, Tian Tian, Limin Duan, Ji Xu and Hongxia Qiu

The Amyloidosis Forum: a public private partnership to advance drug development in AL amyloidosis

Immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare, multi-systemic disorder characterized by two disease processes: an underlying plasma cell dyscrasia that provides the source of pathologic light chains, a...

Authors: Isabelle Lousada

The forgotten people with thalassemia in the time of COVID-19: South Asian perspective

South Asia is the hotspot of beta-thalassemia, with an estimated 200,000 patients whose lives depend on regular blood transfusion. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have adopted unprecedented lockdown t...

Authors: Mohammad Sorowar Hossain, Enayetur Raheem and Mahbubul H. Siddiqee

Development of a patient-reported outcome questionnaire for aplastic anemia and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PRO-AA/PNH)

The introduction of new therapy modalities has significantly improved the outcome of aplastic anemia (AA) and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) patients. However, relatively little is known about the e...

Authors: Kimmo Weisshaar, Hannah Ewald, Jörg Halter, Sabine Gerull, Sandra Schönfeld, Yuliya Senft, Maria Martinez, Anne Leuppi-Taegtmeyer, Nina Khanna, Birgit Maier, Antonio Risitano, Regis Peffault de Latour, Andre Tichelli, Jakob Passweg and Beatrice Drexler

Bone mineral density and bone microarchitecture in a cohort of patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease

Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD) is a rare type of non-Langerhans histiocytosis. Skeletal structures are affected in over 95% ECD patients. Due to the lack of proper imaging assessment tools, the alteration of bo...

Authors: Tianhua He, Lijia Cui, Na Niu, Fengdan Wang, Huilei Miao, Hao Zhao, Xuemin Gao, Chang Liu, Fan Yu, Yan Jiang, Ou Wang, Mei Li, Xiaoping Xing, Daobin Zhou, Jian Li, Xinxin Cao…

Clinical profiles and risk factors of 7-day and 30-day mortality among 160 pediatric patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a relatively rare and life-threatening disorder. Early mortality remains significantly high among patients with HLH. Our aim was to investigate clinical features and...

Authors: Xun Li, Haipeng Yan, Xinping Zhang, Jiaotian Huang, Shi-Ting Xiang, Zhenya Yao, Ping Zang, Desheng Zhu, Zhenghui Xiao and Xiulan Lu

Immune-mediated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in patients with and without systemic lupus erythematosus: a retrospective study

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is associated with more deleterious outcomes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombo...

Authors: Cai Yue, Jian Su, Xiaohong Fan, Li Song, Wei Jiang, Jinghua Xia, Tao Shi, Xuan Zhang and Xuemei Li

A Germany-wide survey study on the patient journey of patients with hereditary angioedema

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic disease and characterized by clinical features such as paroxysmal, recurrent angioedema of the skin, the gastrointestinal tract, and the upper airways. Swelling of...

Authors: Markus Magerl, Holger Gothe, Simon Krupka, Anja Lachmann and Christoph Ohlmeier

European principles of inhibitor management in patients with haemophilia: implications of new treatment options

Authors: C. Hermans, P. L. F. Giangrande, B. O’Mahony, P. de Kleijn, M. Bedford, A. Batorova, J. Blatný and K. Jansone

A novel prognostic model for adult patients with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a type of rare disease with low survival rate. We aimed to develop a model to evaluate the six-month prognosis in adult HLH patients. The data at discharge (will be ...

Authors: Jun Zhou, Jing Zhou, Zhi-Qi Wu, Hemant Goyal and Hua-Guo Xu

ETV6-ACSL6 fusion gene in myeloid neoplasms: clinical spectrum, current practice, and outcomes

ETV6-ACSL6 is a fusion gene rarely reported in myeloid malignancies, and its clinical characteristics, proper treatment strategies, and effect on prognosis are poorly understood.

Authors: Xia Wu, Hao Cai, Yu Qiu, Jian Li, Dao-bin Zhou and Xin-xin Cao

Integration of clinical parameters, genotype and epistaxis severity score to guide treatment for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia associated bleeding

Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by development of mucocutaneous telangiectases and visceral organ arteriovenous malformations, which can lead to recurrent...

Authors: Joan D. Beckman, Quefeng Li, Samuel T. Hester, Ofri Leitner, Karen L. Smith and Raj S. Kasthuri

Exome sequencing for diagnosis of congenital hemolytic anemia

Congenital hemolytic anemia constitutes a heterogeneous group of rare genetic disorders of red blood cells. Diagnosis is based on clinical data, family history and phenotypic testing, genetic analyses being us...

Authors: Lamisse Mansour-Hendili, Abdelrazak Aissat, Bouchra Badaoui, Mehdi Sakka, Christine Gameiro, Valérie Ortonne, Orianne Wagner-Ballon, Serge Pissard, Véronique Picard, Khaldoun Ghazal, Michel Bahuau, Corinne Guitton, Ziad Mansour, Mylène Duplan, Arnaud Petit, Nathalie Costedoat-Chalumeau…

Publication of data collection forms from NHLBI funded sickle cell disease implementation consortium (SCDIC) registry

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal recessive blood disorder affecting approximately 100,000 Americans and 3.1 million people globally. The scarcity of relevant knowledge and experience with rare disease...

Authors: Jeffrey A. Glassberg, Elizabeth A. Linton, Katrina Burson, Tabitha Hendershot, Joseph Telfair, Julie Kanter, Victor R. Gordeuk, Allison A. King, Cathy L. Melvin, Nirmish Shah, Jane S. Hankins, Axel Yannick Epié and Lynne D. Richardson

Sickle cell disease in Sri Lanka: clinical and molecular basis and the unanswered questions about disease severity

Though case reports and limited case series of Sickle cell disease in Sri Lanka have been reported previously, no attempt has been made hitherto to undertake a comprehensive genotypic-phenotypic analysis of th...

Authors: Thamal Darshana, Dayananda Bandara, Upul Nawarathne, Udaya de Silva, Yasinta Costa, Kalavitigoda Pushpakumara, Sumithra Pathirage, Seuwandi Basnayake, Chamila Epa, Pradeepa Dilrukshi, Maheshaka Wijayawardena, Angela A. Anthony, Rexan Rodrigo, Aresha Manamperi, Frances Smith, Angela Allen…

Non-deletional alpha thalassaemia: a review

Defective synthesis of the α-globin chain due to mutations in the alpha-globin genes and/or its regulatory elements leads to alpha thalassaemia syndrome. Complete deletion of the 4 alpha-globin genes results i...

Authors: Ibrahim Kalle Kwaifa, Mei I. Lai and Sabariah Md Noor

Reliability of optic disc edema area in estimating the severity of papilledema in patients with POEMS syndrome

Polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome involving multisystem. Optic disc edema (ODE) is the most common ocular m...

Authors: Ling-shan Liu, Xiao Zhang, Hao Zhao, Xue-min Gao, Dao-bin Zhou, Rong-ping Dai and Jian Li

Genotype characteristics and immunological indicator evaluation of 311 hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis cases in China

Primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (pHLH) is a genetic disorder that is classically diagnosed by genetic testing. Secondary HLH (sHLH) is usually caused by infections, malignancies, or autoimmune disor...

Authors: Jia Zhang, Yuan Sun, Xiaodong Shi, Rui Zhang, Yini Wang, Juan Xiao, Jing Cao, Zhuo Gao, Jingshi Wang, Lin Wu, Wei Wei and Zhao Wang

Development and validation of the prognostic value of ferritin in adult patients with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare clinical syndrome with high mortality rate. The diagnosis of HLH draws on a constellation of clinical and laboratory abnormalities including extremely high se...

Authors: Jun Zhou, Jing Zhou, Dan-Ting Shen, Hemant Goyal, Zhi-Qi Wu and Hua-Guo Xu

Lack of knowledge and misperceptions about thalassaemia among college students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional baseline study

Thalassaemia is a potentially life-threatening yet preventable inherited hemoglobin disorder. Understanding local socio-cultural context and level of public awareness about thalassaemia is pivotal for selectin...

Authors: Mohammad Sorowar Hossain, Md. Mahbub Hasan, Enayetur Raheem, Muhammad Sougatul Islam, Abdullah Al Mosabbir, Mary Petrou, Paul Telfer and Mahbubul H. Siddiqee

Adverse event rates and economic burden associated with purine nucleoside analogs in patients with hairy cell leukemia: a US population-retrospective claims analysis

Purine nucleoside analogs (PNAs) are the recommended first-line treatment for patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL), but they are associated with adverse events (AEs). Due to a lack of real-world evidence re...

Authors: Narendranath Epperla, Melissa Pavilack, Temitope Olufade, Richa Bashyal, Jieni Li, Shaum M. Kabadi, Huseyin Yuce and Leslie Andritsos

Comparison of liver MRI R2(FerriScan®) VS liver MRI T2* as a measure of body iron load in a cohort of beta thalassaemia major patients

To compare the similarity of the non-patented T2* and the high cost patented R2 (Ferriscan®) MRI techniques in the measurement of liver iron concentration (LIC) in heavily transfused patients with thalassaemia...

Authors: Padmapani Padeniya, Shirom Siriwardana, Dileepa Ediriweera, Nayana Samarasinghe, Sasanka Silva, Ishari Silva, Nizri Ahamed, Madunil Niriella and Anuja Premawardhena

Asymptomatic intracranial aneurysms in beta-thalassemia: a three-year follow-up report

No information is currently available regarding the natural history of asymptomatic intracranial aneurysms in beta-thalassemia, raising several concerns about their proper management.

Authors: Renzo Manara, Martina Caiazza, Rosanna Di Concilio, Angela Ciancio, Elisa De Michele, Caterina Maietta, Daniela Capalbo, Camilla Russo, Domenico Roberti, Maddalena Casale, Andrea Elefante, Fabrizio Esposito, Sara Ponticorvo, Andrea Gerardo Russo, Antonietta Canna, Mario Cirillo…

Nationwide carrier detection and molecular characterization of β-thalassemia and hemoglobin E variants in Bangladeshi population

ß-thalassemia is one of the most common inherited blood disorders in the world and a major deterrent to the public health of Bangladesh. The management of thalassemia patients requires lifelong frequent blood ...

Authors: Farjana Akther Noor, Nusrat Sultana, Golam Sarower Bhuyan, Md Tarikul Islam, Mohabbat Hossain, Suprovath Kumar Sarker, Khaleda Islam, Waqar Ahmed Khan, Mujahida Rahman, Syeda Kashfi Qadri, Hossain Uddin Shekhar, Firdausi Qadri, Syed Saleheen Qadri and Kaiissar Mannoor

Incidence of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in Germany: a hospital level study

Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic Purpura (aTTP) is a life-threatening ultra-orphan disease with a reported annual incidence between 1.5 and 6.0 cases per million in Europe and mainly affecting otherwise yo...

Authors: Wolfgang Miesbach, Jan Menne, Martin Bommer, Ulf Schönermarck, Thorsten Feldkamp, Martin Nitschke, Timm H. Westhoff, Felix S. Seibert, Rainer Woitas, Rui Sousa, Michael Wolf, Stefan Walzer and Björn Schwander

Using a stated preference discrete choice experiment to assess societal value from the perspective of patients with rare diseases in Italy

Decision makers have huge problems when attempting to attribute social value to the improvements achieved by new drugs, especially when considering the use of orphan drugs for rare diseases. We present the res...

Authors: Julio López-Bastida, Juan Manuel Ramos-Goñi, Isaac Aranda-Reneo, Domenica Taruscio, Armando Magrelli and Panos Kanavos

Current challenges in the management of patients with sickle cell disease – A report of the Italian experience

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited red blood cell disorder caused by a structural abnormality of hemoglobin called sickle hemoglobin (HbS). Clinical manifestations of SCD are mainly characterized by chr...

Authors: Giovanna Russo, Lucia De Franceschi, Raffaella Colombatti, Paolo Rigano, Silverio Perrotta, Vincenzo Voi, Giovanni Palazzi, Carmelo Fidone, Alessandra Quota, Giovanna Graziadei, Antonello Pietrangelo, Valeria Pinto, Giovan Battista Ruffo, Francesco Sorrentino, Donatella Venturelli, Maddalena Casale…

Molecular diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis by multi-gene target sequencing in Korea: matching with osmotic fragility test and presence of spherocyte

Current diagnostic tests for hereditary spherocytosis (HS) focus on the detection of hemolysis or indirectly assessing defects of membrane protein, whereas direct methods to detect protein defects are complica...

Authors: Hyoung Soo Choi, Qute Choi, Jung-Ah Kim, Kyong Ok Im, Si Nae Park, Yoomi Park, Hee Young Shin, Hyoung Jin Kang, Hoon Kook, Seon Young Kim, Soo-Jeong Kim, Inho Kim, Ji Yoon Kim, Hawk Kim, Kyung Duk Park, Kyung Bae Park…

Screening for neuropathic pain in patients with sickle cell disease: is a single assessment scale sufficient?

The objectives of this study were to delineate the clinical-epidemiological profile of patients with neuropathic pain (NP) in the groups of SCD patients, from each of the three questionnaires used DN-4, painDE...

Authors: Fabricio Dias Antunes, Cidson Leonardo Silva Junior, Karine Santos Cerqueira, Maira do Livramento Faro and Rosana Cipolotti

Requirement for etoposide in the treatment of pregnancy related hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: a multicenter retrospective study

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare severe clinical syndrome. HLH manifesting during pregnancy has been paid much attention in recent years. Despite the specificity of pregnancy-related HLH, the...

Authors: Yue Song, Zhao Wang, Zengping Hao, Lihong Li, Junli Lu, Hongjun Kang, Yanping Lu, Yanqin You, Lijuan Li, Qingyun Chen and Bo Chen

Hemophilia carrier’s awareness, diagnosis, and management in emerging countries: a cross-sectional study in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Little data is available on awareness of hemophilia carrier condition or associated bleeding risk and management in Sub-Saharan African countries. This study sought to identify hemophilia carriers in Côte d’Iv...

Authors: Catherine Lambert, N’ Dogomo Meité, Ibrahima Sanogo, Sébastien Lobet, Eusèbe Adjambri, Stéphane Eeckhoudt and Cedric Hermans

Clinical and positron emission tomography responses to long-term high-dose interferon-α treatment among patients with Erdheim–Chester disease

Erdheim–Chester disease (ECD) is a rare multi-systemic form of histiocytosis. Treatment with BRAF inhibitors has markedly improved outcomes of ECD; however, this targeted therapy is expensive (estimated annual...

Authors: Xin-xin Cao, Na Niu, Jian Sun, Hao Cai, Feng-dan Wang, Yi-ning Wang, Ming-hui Duan, Dao-bin Zhou and Jian Li

European principles of inhibitor management in patients with haemophilia

In spite of recent major advances in the understanding and treatment of inhibitor development in patients with haemophilia, multidisciplinary management of many of these patients remains suboptimal and highly ...

Authors: P. L. F. Giangrande, C. Hermans, B. O’Mahony, P. de Kleijn, M. Bedford, A. Batorova, J. Blatný and K. Jansone

Fabry disease and incidence of cancer

Fabry disease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficient activity of α-galactosidase A and the resulting accumulation of the glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) and its derivatives, i...

Authors: Sarah Bird, Efthymios Hadjimichael, Atul Mehta, Uma Ramaswami and Derralynn Hughes

The cost of severe haemophilia in Europe: the CHESS study

Severe haemophilia is associated with major psychological and economic burden for patients, caregivers, and the wider health care system. This burden has been quantified and documented for a number of European...

Authors: Jamie O’Hara, David Hughes, Charlotte Camp, Tom Burke, Liz Carroll and Daniel-Anibal Garcia Diego

Thalassemias in South Asia: clinical lessons learnt from Bangladesh

Thalassemias are emerging as a global public health concern. Due to remarkable success in the reduction of childhood mortality by controlling infectious diseases in developing countries, thalassemias are likel...

Authors: Mohammad Sorowar Hossain, Enayetur Raheem, Tanvira Afroze Sultana, Shameema Ferdous, Nusrat Nahar, Sazia Islam, Mohammad Arifuzzaman, Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Rabiul Alam, Sonia Aziz, Hazera Khatun, Abdur Rahim and Manzur Morshed

Autosomal recessive inherited bleeding disorders in Pakistan: a cross-sectional study from selected regions

Autosomal recessive bleeding disorders (ARBDs) include deficiencies of clotting factors I, II, V, VII, X, XI, XIII, vitamin K dependent clotting factors, combined factor V & VIII, Von Willebrand Disease (vWD) ...

Authors: Arshi Naz, Muhammad Younus Jamal, Samina Amanat, Ikram Din ujjan, Akber Najmuddin, Humayun Patel, Fazle Raziq, Nisar Ahmed, Ayisha Imran and Tahir Sultan Shamsi

Increased red cell distribution width in Fanconi anemia: a novel marker of stress erythropoiesis

Red cell distribution width (RDW), a classical parameter used in the differential diagnosis of anemia, has recently been recognized as a marker of chronic inflammation and high levels of oxidative stress (OS)....

Authors: Rosa Sousa, Cristina Gonçalves, Isabel Couto Guerra, Emília Costa, Ana Fernandes, Maria do Bom Sucesso, Joana Azevedo, Alfredo Rodriguez, Rocio Rius, Carlos Seabra, Fátima Ferreira, Letícia Ribeiro, Anabela Ferrão, Sérgio Castedo, Esmeralda Cleto, Jorge Coutinho…