Browsing by Author "Prasad, Vinod K"
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Item Open Access A Phase II Randomized Clinical Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Intravenous Umbilical Cord Blood Infusion for Treatment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.(The Journal of pediatrics, 2020-07) Dawson, Geraldine; Sun, Jessica M; Baker, Jennifer; Carpenter, Kimberly; Compton, Scott; Deaver, Megan; Franz, Lauren; Heilbron, Nicole; Herold, Brianna; Horrigan, Joseph; Howard, Jill; Kosinski, Andrzej; Major, Samantha; Murias, Michael; Page, Kristin; Prasad, Vinod K; Sabatos-DeVito, Maura; Sanfilippo, Fred; Sikich, Linmarie; Simmons, Ryan; Song, Allen; Vermeer, Saritha; Waters-Pick, Barbara; Troy, Jesse; Kurtzberg, JoanneObjective
To evaluate whether umbilical cord blood (CB) infusion is safe and associated with improved social and communication abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Study design
This prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study included 180 children with ASD, aged 2-7 years, who received a single intravenous autologous (n = 56) or allogeneic (n = 63) CB infusion vs placebo (n = 61) and were evaluated at 6 months postinfusion.Results
CB infusion was safe and well tolerated. Analysis of the entire sample showed no evidence that CB was associated with improvements in the primary outcome, social communication (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3 [VABS-3] Socialization Domain), or the secondary outcomes, autism symptoms (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory) and vocabulary (Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test). There was also no overall evidence of differential effects by type of CB infused. In a subanalysis of children without intellectual disability (ID), allogeneic, but not autologous, CB was associated with improvement in a larger percentage of children on the clinician-rated Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale, but the OR for improvement was not significant. Children without ID treated with CB showed significant improvements in communication skills (VABS-3 Communication Domain), and exploratory measures including attention to toys and sustained attention (eye-tracking) and increased alpha and beta electroencephalographic power.Conclusions
Overall, a single infusion of CB was not associated with improved socialization skills or reduced autism symptoms. More research is warranted to determine whether CB infusion is an effective treatment for some children with ASD.Item Open Access Brincidofovir for Asymptomatic Adenovirus Viremia in Pediatric and Adult Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Phase II Trial.(Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2017-03) Grimley, Michael S; Chemaly, Roy F; Englund, Janet A; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Chittick, Gregory; Brundage, Thomas M; Bae, Andrew; Morrison, Marion E; Prasad, Vinod KAdenovirus infection in immunocompromised patients contributes to significant morbidity and mortality, especially after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Brincidofovir (BCV, CMX001) is an orally bioavailable lipid conjugate of cidofovir that has in vitro activity against adenoviruses and other double-stranded DNA viruses. This randomized placebo-controlled phase II trial evaluated pre-emptive treatment with BCV for the prevention of adenovirus disease in pediatric and adult allogeneic HCT recipients with asymptomatic adenovirus viremia. Allogeneic HCT recipients with adenovirus viremia were randomized 1:1:1 to receive oral BCV 100 mg (2 mg/kg if <50 kg) twice weekly (BIW), BCV 200 mg (4 mg/kg if <50 kg) once weekly (QW), or placebo for 6 to 12 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of post-treatment follow-up. For randomization, subjects were stratified by screening absolute lymphocyte count (<300 cells/mm3 versus ≥300 cells/mm3). Assignment to BCV or placebo was double blinded; dose frequency was unblinded. The primary endpoint was the proportion of subjects experiencing treatment failure, defined as either progression to probable or definitive adenovirus disease or confirmed increasing adenovirus viremia (≥1 log10 copies/mL) during randomized therapy. Between June 2011 and December 2012, 48 subjects were randomized to the BCV BIW (n = 14), BCV QW (n = 16), or placebo (n = 18) groups. The proportion of subjects with treatment failure in the BCV BIW group was 21% (odds ratio, .53; 95% confidence interval [CI], .11 to 2.71; P = .45), 38% (odds ratio, 1.23; 95% CI, .30 to 5.05, P = .779) in the BCV QW group, and 33% in the placebo group. All-cause mortality was lower in the BCV BIW (14%) and BCV QW groups (31%) relative to the placebo group (39%), but these differences were not statistically significant. After 1 week of therapy, 8 of 12 subjects (67%) randomized to BCV BIW had undetectable adenovirus viremia (<100 copies/mL), compared with 4 of 14 subjects (29%) randomized to BCV QW and 5 of 15 subjects (33%) randomized to placebo. In a post hoc analysis of subjects with viremia ≥1000 copies/mL at baseline, 6 of 7 BCV BIW subjects (86%) achieved undetectable viremia compared with 2 of 8 placebo subjects (25%; P = .04). Early treatment discontinuation because of adverse events was more common in subjects treated with BCV than with placebo. Diarrhea was the most common event in all groups (57% BCV BIW, 38% BCV QW, 28% placebo), but it led to treatment discontinuation in only 1 subject receiving BCV QW. Events diagnosed as acute graft-versus-host disease, primarily of the gastrointestinal tract, were more frequent in the BCV BIW group (50%) than in the BCV QW (25%) and placebo (17%) groups. There was no evidence of myelotoxicity or nephrotoxicity in BCV-treated subjects. The results of this trial confirm the antiviral activity of BCV against adenoviruses. Further investigation is ongoing to define the optimal treatment strategy for HCT recipients with serious adenovirus infection and disease.Item Open Access Disseminated Adenovirus Infection After Combined Liver-Kidney Transplantation(FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY, 2018-11-20) Hemmersbach-Miller, Marion; Bailey, Emily S; Kappus, Matthew; Prasad, Vinod K; Gray, Gregory C; Alspaugh, J AndrewItem Open Access Durable Chimerism and Long-Term Survival after Unrelated Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation for Pediatric Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: A Single-Center Experience.(Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2017-10) Patel, Sachit A; Allewelt, Heather A; Troy, Jesse D; Martin, Paul L; Driscoll, Timothy A; Prasad, Vinod K; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Page, Kristin M; Parikh, Suhag HHemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening disorder of immune dysregulation characterized by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenias, central nervous system disease, increased inflammatory markers, and hemophagocytosis. Currently, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only curative approach for patients with HLH, with reported survival ranging from 50% to 70% with myeloablative conditioning (MAC) regimens. However, donor availability and transplantation-related mortality associated with conventional MAC are major barriers to success. Unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) provides a readily available alternative donor source for patients lacking matched related donors. Accordingly, we report the results of UCBT in 14 children treated between 1998 and 2016. All children received standard HLH chemotherapy before UCBT. The median age at diagnosis was 2.7 months (range, .8 to 10.4) and at transplantation was 7.5 months (range, 3.8 to 17). Ten patients received MAC with busulfan/cyclophosphamide/etoposide /antithymocyte globulin (ATG) (n = 5), busulfan/cyclophosphamide /ATG (n = 4), or busulfan /melphalan/ATG (n = 1). Four patients received reduced-toxicity conditioning (RTC) with alemtuzumab/fludarabine/melphalan/hydroxyurea ± thiotepa. Cord blood units were mismatched at either 1 (n = 9) or 2 (n = 5) loci and delivered a median total nucleated cell dose of 11.9 × 107/kg (range, 4.6 to 27.9) and CD34+ dose of 3.1 × 105/kg (range, 1.1 to 6.8). The cumulative incidence of neutrophil engraftment by day 42 was 78.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 42.9% to 93.4%) with a median of 19 days (range, 13 to 27), and that for platelet (50,000) engraftment by day 100 was 64.3% (95% CI, 28.2% to 85.7%) with a median of 51 days (range, 31 to 94). Six patients developed either grade II (n = 5) or grade IV (n = 1) acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); no extensive chronic GVHD was seen. Ten patients (71.4%) are alive and well at a median of 11.2 years after transplantation (range, .85 to 18.25), 9 of whom maintain sustained full donor chimerism after a single UCBT, whereas 1 patient with autologous recovery after first UCBT with RTC has achieved full donor chimerism after a second UCBT with MAC. This series demonstrates that, in combination with standard HLH therapy, UCBT after MAC or RTC conditioning can provide long-term survival with durable complete donor chimerism comparable to that of conventional donors. UCBT should be considered for patients with HLH lacking a fully matched related or unrelated adult donor.Item Open Access Durable engraftment and correction of hematological abnormalities in children with congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia following myeloablative umbilical cord blood transplantation.(Pediatric transplantation, 2015-11) Mahadeo, Kris M; Tewari, Priti; Parikh, Suhag H; Driscoll, Timothy A; Page, Kristin; Martin, Paul L; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Prasad, Vinod KThe use of HSCT is the only potentially curative treatment for CAMT, but access is limited by the availability of suitable donors. We report five consecutive patients with CAMT who received MAC and partially HLA-mismatched, UCBT (unrelated, n = 4). Median times to neutrophil (>500/μL) and platelet (≥20 000 and ≥50 000/μL) engraftment were 19, 57, and 70 days, respectively. Acute GvHD, grade II, developed in one patient, who subsequently developed limited chronic GvHD. At median follow-up of 14 yr, all patients are alive with sustained donor cell engraftment. To our knowledge, this is the largest single-center series of UCBT for patients with this disease and suggests that UCBT is a successful curative option for patients with CAMT.Item Open Access Efficacy and safety of ex vivo cultured adult human mesenchymal stem cells (Prochymal™) in pediatric patients with severe refractory acute graft-versus-host disease in a compassionate use study.(Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2011-04) Prasad, Vinod K; Lucas, Kenneth G; Kleiner, Gary I; Talano, Julie An M; Jacobsohn, David; Broadwater, Gloria; Monroy, Rod; Kurtzberg, JoannePreliminary studies using directed-donor ex vivo expanded human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have shown promise in the treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). However, their production is cumbersome and standardization is difficult. We describe the first experience of using a premanufactured, universal donor, formulation of hMSCs (Prochymal) in children (n = 12; 10 boys; 9 Caucasian; age range: 0.4-15 years) with treatment-resistant grade III and IV aGVHD who received therapy on compassionate use basis between July 2005 and June 2007 at 5 transplant centers. All patients had stage III or IV gut (GI) symptoms and half had additional liver and/or skin involvement. Disease was refractory to steroids in all cases and additionally to a median of 3 other immunosuppressive therapies. The hMSCs (8 × 10(6)cells/kg/dose in 2 patients and 2 × 10(6)cells/kg/dose in the rest) were infused intravenously over 1 hour twice a week for 4 weeks. Partial and mixed responders received subsequent weekly therapy for 4 weeks. HLA or other matching was not needed. The hMSCs were started at a median of 98 days (range: 45-237) posttransplant. A total of 124 doses were administered, with a median of 8 doses (range: 2-21) per patient. Overall, 7 (58%) patients had complete response, 2 (17%) partial response, and 3 (25%) mixed response. Complete resolution of GI symptoms occurred in 9 (75%) patients. Two patients relapsed after initial response and showed partial response to retreatment. The cumulative incidence of survival at 100 days from the initiation of Prochymal therapy was 58%. Five of 12 patients (42%) were still alive after a median follow-up of 611 days (range: 427-1111) in surviving patients. No infusional or other identifiable acute toxicity was seen in any patient. Multiple infusions of hMSCs were well tolerated and appeared to be safe in children. Clinical responses, particularly in the GI system, were seen in the majority of children with severe refractory aGVHD. Given the favorable results observed in a patient population with an otherwise grave prognosis, we conclude that hMSCs hold potential for the treatment of aGVHD, and should be further studied in phase III trials in pediatric and adult patients.Item Open Access Ethical considerations of using a single minor donor for three bone marrow harvests for three HLA-matched siblings with primary immunodeficiency.(Pediatric blood & cancer, 2019-04) Parikh, Suhag H; Pentz, Rebecca D; Haight, Ann; Adeli, Mehdi; Martin, Paul L; Driscoll, Timothy A; Page, Kristin; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Prasad, Vinod K; Barfield, Raymond CAllogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is curative for primary immunodeficiencies. Bone marrow from an unaffected human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling donor is the ideal graft source. For minor donors, meaningful consent or assent may not be feasible, and permission from parents or legal guardians is considered acceptable. Adverse events, albeit extremely small, can be associated with bone marrow harvest in pediatric donors. Donor safety concerns potentially increase with multiple bone marrow harvests. Very little is known about multiple bone marrow harvests from pediatric donors. We describe the ethical considerations and clinical decision-making in an unusual clinical situation where three patients with the same primary immunodeficiency were HLA identical to one another and their younger sibling, who underwent bone marrow harvests three times between 1.3 and 4 years of age, resulting in successful transplantation for all three patients. We hope that this experience will provide guidance to providers and families in a similar situation.Item Open Access Gallbladder abnormalities in children with metachromatic leukodystrophy.(The Journal of surgical research, 2017-02) Kim, Jina; Sun, Zhifei; Ezekian, Brian; Schooler, Gary R; Prasad, Vinod K; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Rice, Henry E; Tracy, Elisabeth TBackground
Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a lysosomal storage disease that leads to neurological deterioration and visceral involvement, including sulphatide deposition in the gallbladder wall. Using our institution's extensive experience in treating MLD, we examined the incidence of gallbladder abnormalities in the largest cohort of children with MLD to date.Methods
We conducted a retrospective review of all children with MLD, adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), or Krabbe disease who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) at our institution between 1994 and 2015. Baseline characteristics and unadjusted outcomes were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables and Pearson χ2 test for categorical variables, with significance defined as P < 0.05.Results
In total, 87 children met study criteria: 29 children with MLD and 58 children with ALD or Krabbe disease. Children with MLD were more likely to demonstrate gallbladder abnormalities on imaging, both before HSCT (41.4% versus 5.2%, P < 0.001) and after HSCT (75.9% versus 41.4%, P = 0.002). Consequently, a larger proportion of children with MLD underwent surgical or interventional management of biliary disease (10.3% versus 3.4%, P = 0.03).Conclusions
Children with MLD have a significantly greater incidence of gallbladder abnormalities than children with other lysosomal storage diseases. Biliary disease should be considered in children with MLD who develop abdominal pain, and cholecystectomy should be considered for persistent, symptomatic gallbladder abnormalities.Item Open Access Long-Term Functional Outcomes following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant for Early Infantile Krabbe Disease.(Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2018-06-19) Allewelt, Heather; Taskindoust, Mahsa; Troy, Jesse; Page, Kristin; Wood, Susan; Parikh, Suhag; Prasad, Vinod K; Kurtzberg, JoanneAllogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can retard the progression of early infantile Krabbe disease (EIKD). Superior outcomes are achieved if HSCT is performed prior to the onset of symptoms, however little information is available about the long-term outcomes in surviving patients. We now describe functional outcomes in pre-symptomatic infants who underwent HSCT for EIKD at ≤2 months of life. Records of the 19 patients who underwent HSCT for EIKD at ≤2 months of age from 1996-2010 were reviewed. Long-term functional outcomes were compared between those transplanted at <30 days and ≥30 days of life. Median age at transplant was 27 days (range 19-61). Median follow-up of the cohort was 12.6 years. Overall survival at 5 and 10 years post-transplant was 84.2% (95% CI:58.7-94.6%) and 78.6% (95% CI:52.5-91.4%), respectively. More favorable outcomes were seen in patients who underwent HSCT at <30 days of age, particularly in domains of mobility (p=0.01), communication (p=0.02), and feeding (p=0.008). Improved functional outcomes were observed when HSCT was performed in the first month of life, defining a critical period for intervention. These results support the implementation of newborn screening to enable rapid diagnosis and early treatment of infants with EIKD.Item Open Access Long-term outcome of Hurler syndrome patients after hematopoietic cell transplantation: an international multicenter study.(Blood, 2015-03) Aldenhoven, Mieke; Wynn, Robert F; Orchard, Paul J; O'Meara, Anne; Veys, Paul; Fischer, Alain; Valayannopoulos, Vassili; Neven, Benedicte; Rovelli, Attilio; Prasad, Vinod K; Tolar, Jakub; Allewelt, Heather; Jones, Simon A; Parini, Rossella; Renard, Marleen; Bordon, Victoria; Wulffraat, Nico M; de Koning, Tom J; Shapiro, Elsa G; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Boelens, Jaap JanMucopolysaccharidosis type I-Hurler syndrome (MPS-IH) is a lysosomal storage disease characterized by multisystem morbidity and death in early childhood. Although hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been performed in these patients for more than 30 years, large studies on the long-term outcome of patients with MPS-IH after HCT are lacking. The goal of this international study was to identify predictors of the long-term outcome of patients with MPS-IH after successful HCT. Two hundred seventeen patients with MPS-IH successfully engrafted with a median follow-up age of 9.2 years were included in this retrospective analysis. Primary endpoints were neurodevelopmental outcomes and growth. Secondary endpoints included neurologic, orthopedic, cardiac, respiratory, ophthalmologic, audiologic, and endocrinologic outcomes. Considerable residual disease burden was observed in the majority of the transplanted patients with MPS-IH, with high variability between patients. Preservation of cognitive function at HCT and a younger age at transplantation were major predictors for superior cognitive development posttransplant. A normal α-l-iduronidase enzyme level obtained post-HCT was another highly significant predictor for superior long-term outcome in most organ systems. The long-term prognosis of patients with MPS-IH receiving HCT can be improved by reducing the age at HCT through earlier diagnosis, as well as using exclusively noncarrier donors and achieving complete donor chimerism.Item Open Access Myeloablative transplantation using either cord blood or bone marrow leads to immune recovery, high long-term donor chimerism and excellent survival in chronic granulomatous disease.(Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2012-09) Tewari, Priti; Martin, Paul L; Mendizabal, Adam; Parikh, Suhag H; Page, Kristin M; Driscoll, Timothy A; Malech, Harry L; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Prasad, Vinod KThe curative potential of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic granulomatous disease depends on availability of a suitable donor, successful donor engraftment, and maintenance of long-term donor chimerism. Twelve consecutive children (median age, 59.5 months; range, 8-140 months) with severe chronic granulomatous disease (serious bacterial/fungal infections pretransplantation; median, 3; range, 2-9) received myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation using sibling bone marrow ([SibBM]; n = 5), unrelated cord blood (UCB; n = 6), and sibling cord blood (n = 1) at our center between 1997 and 2010. SibBM and sibling cord blood were HLA matched at 6/6, whereas UCB were 5/6 (n = 5) or 6/6 (n = 1). Recipients of SibBM were conditioned with busulfan and cyclophosphamide ± anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG), whereas 6 of 7 cord blood recipients received fludarabine/busulfan/cyclophosphamide/ATG. Seven patients received granulocyte-colony stimulating factor-mobilized granulocyte transfusions from directed donors. The first 2 UCB recipients had primary graft failure but successfully underwent retransplantation with UCB. Highest acute graft-versus-host disease was grade III (n = 1). Extensive chronic graft-vs-host disease developed in 3 patients. All patients are alive with median follow-up of 70.5 months (range, 12-167 months) with high donor chimerism (>98%, n = 10; 94%, n = 1; and 92%, n = 1). Myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation led to correction of neutrophil dysfunction, durable donor chimerism, excellent survival, good quality of life, and low incidence of graft-vs-host disease regardless of graft source.Item Open Access Optimizing donor selection for public cord blood banking: influence of maternal, infant, and collection characteristics on cord blood unit quality.(Transfusion, 2014-02) Page, Kristin M; Mendizabal, Adam; Betz-Stablein, Brigid; Wease, Stephen; Shoulars, Kevin; Gentry, Tracy; Prasad, Vinod K; Sun, Jessica; Carter, Shelly; Balber, Andrew E; Kurtzberg, JoanneBackground
Banked unrelated donor umbilical cord blood (CB) has improved access to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for patients without a suitably matched donor. In a resource-limited environment, ensuring that the public inventory is enriched with high-quality cord blood units (CBUs) addressing the needs of a diverse group of patients is a priority. Identification of donor characteristics correlating with higher CBU quality could guide operational strategies to increase the yield of banked high-quality CBUs.Study design and methods
Characteristics of 5267 CBUs donated to the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank, a public bank participating in the National Cord Blood Inventory, were retrospectively analyzed. Eligible CBUs, collected by trained personnel, were processed using standard procedures. Routine quality and potency metrics (postprocessing total nucleated cell count [post-TNCC], CD34+, colony-forming units [CFUs]) were correlated with maternal, infant, and collection characteristics.Results
High-quality CBUs were defined as those with higher post-TNCC (>1.25 × 10(9)) with CD34+ and CFUs in the upper quartile. Factors associated with higher CD34+ or CFU content included a shorter interval from collection to processing (<10 hr), younger gestational age (34-37 weeks; CD34+ and CFUs), Caucasian race, higher birthweight (>3500 g), and larger collection volumes (>80 mL).Conclusions
We describe characteristics identifying high-quality CBUs, which can be used to inform strategies for CBU collection for public banks. Efforts should be made to prioritize collections from larger babies born before 38 weeks of gestation. CBUs should be rapidly transported to the processing laboratory. The lower quality of CBUs from non-Caucasian donors highlights the challenges of building a racially diverse public CB inventory.Item Open Access Outcomes of transplantation using various hematopoietic cell sources in children with Hurler syndrome after myeloablative conditioning.(Blood, 2013-05) Boelens, Jaap Jan; Aldenhoven, Mieke; Purtill, Duncan; Ruggeri, Annalisa; Defor, Todd; Wynn, Robert; Wraith, Ed; Cavazzana-Calvo, Marina; Rovelli, Attilio; Fischer, Alain; Tolar, Jakub; Prasad, Vinod K; Escolar, Maria; Gluckman, Eliane; O'Meara, Anne; Orchard, Paul J; Veys, Paul; Eapen, Mary; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Rocha, Vanderson; Eurocord; Inborn Errors Working Party of European Blood and Marrow Transplant group; Duke University Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program; Centre for International Blood and Marrow ResearchWe report transplantation outcomes of 258 children with Hurler syndrome (HS) after a myeloablative conditioning regimen from 1995 to 2007. Median age at transplant was 16.7 months and median follow-up was 57 months. The cumulative incidence of neutrophil recovery at day 60 was 91%, acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (grade II-IV) at day 100 was 25%, and chronic GVHD and 5 years was 16%. Overall survival and event-free survival (EFS) at 5 years were 74% and 63%, respectively. EFS after HLA-matched sibling donor (MSD) and 6/6 matched unrelated cord blood (CB) donor were similar at 81%, 66% after 10/10 HLA-matched unrelated donor (UD), and 68% after 5/6 matched CB donor. EFS was lower after transplantation in 4/6 matched unrelated CB (UCB) (57%; P = .031) and HLA-mismatched UD (41%; P = .007). Full-donor chimerism (P = .039) and normal enzyme levels (P = .007) were higher after CB transplantation (92% and 98%, respectively) compared with the other grafts sources (69% and 59%, respectively). In conclusion, results of allogeneic transplantation for HS are encouraging, with similar EFS rates after MSD, 6/6 matched UCB, 5/6 UCB, and 10/10 matched UD. The use of mismatched UD and 4/6 matched UCB was associated with lower EFS.Item Open Access Reduction in Mortality after Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation in Children Over a 20-Year Period (1995-2014).(Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2019-04) Spees, Lisa P; Martin, Paul L; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Stokhuyzen, Andre; McGill, Lauren; Prasad, Vinod K; Driscoll, Timothy A; Parikh, Suhag H; Page, Kristin M; Vinesett, Richard; Severyn, Christopher; Sung, Anthony D; Proia, Alan D; Jenkins, Kirsten; Arshad, Mehreen; Steinbach, William J; Seed, Patrick C; Kelly, Matthew SInfections and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) have historically resulted in high mortality among children undergoing umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). However, recent advances in clinical practice have likely improved outcomes of these patients. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children (<18years of age) undergoing UCBT at Duke University between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2014. We compared 2-year all-cause and cause-specific mortality during 3 time periods based on year of transplantation (1995 to 2001, 2002 to 2007, and 2008 to 2014). We used multivariable Cox regression to identify demographic and UCBT characteristics that were associated with all-cause mortality, transplantation-related mortality, and death from invasive aspergillosis after adjustment for time period. During the 20-year study period 824 children underwent UCBT. Two-year all-cause mortality declined from 48% in 1995 to 2001 to 30% in 2008 to 2014 (P = .0002). White race and nonmalignant UCBT indications were associated with lower mortality. Black children tended to have a higher risk of death for which GVHD (18% versus 11%; P = .06) or graft failure (9% versus 3%; P = .01) were contributory than white children. Comparing 2008 to 2014 with 1995 to 2001, more than half (59%) of the reduced mortality was attributable to a reduction in infectious mortality, with 45% specifically related to reduced mortality from invasive aspergillosis. Antifungal prophylaxis with voriconazole was associated with lower mortality from invasive aspergillosis than low-dose amphotericin B lipid complex (hazard ratio, .09; 95% confidence interval, .01 to .76). With the decline in mortality from invasive aspergillosis, adenovirus and cytomegalovirus have become the most frequentinfectious causes of death in children after UCBT. Advances in clinical practice over the past 20years improved survival of children after UCBT. Reduced mortality from infections, particularly invasive aspergillosis, accounted for the largest improvement in survival and was associated with use of voriconazole for antifungal prophylaxis.Item Open Access The critical role of psychosine in screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of Krabbe disease.(Genetics in medicine : official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics, 2020-06) Guenzel, Adam J; Turgeon, Coleman T; Nickander, Kim K; White, Amy L; Peck, Dawn S; Pino, Gisele B; Studinski, April L; Prasad, Vinod K; Kurtzberg, Joanne; Escolar, Maria L; Lasio, Maria Laura Duque; Pellegrino, Joan E; Sakonju, Ai; Hickey, Rachel E; Shallow, Natalie M; Ream, Margie A; Orsini, Joseph J; Gelb, Michael H; Raymond, Kimiyo; Gavrilov, Dimitar K; Oglesbee, Devin; Rinaldo, Piero; Tortorelli, Silvia; Matern, DietrichPurpose
Newborn screening (NBS) for Krabbe disease (KD) is performed by measurement of galactocerebrosidase (GALC) activity as the primary test. This revealed that GALC activity has poor specificity for KD. Psychosine (PSY) was proposed as a disease marker useful to reduce the false positive rate for NBS and for disease monitoring. We report a highly sensitive PSY assay that allows identification of KD patients with minimal PSY elevations.Methods
PSY was extracted from dried blood spots or erythrocytes with methanol containing d5-PSY as internal standard, and measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.Results
Analysis of PSY in samples from controls (N = 209), GALC pseudodeficiency carriers (N = 55), GALC pathogenic variant carriers (N = 27), patients with infantile KD (N = 26), and patients with late-onset KD (N = 11) allowed for the development of an effective laboratory screening and diagnostic algorithm. Additional longitudinal measurements were used to track therapeutic efficacy of hematopoietic stem cell transplantion (HSCT).Conclusion
This study supports PSY quantitation as a critical component of NBS for KD. It helps to differentiate infantile from later onset KD variants, as well as from GALC variant and pseudodeficiency carriers. Additionally, this study provides further data that PSY measurement can be useful to monitor KD progression before and after treatment.