Prevalence of Severe Anemia (Hb ≤ 5 g/dl) in Non-Dialyzed Chronic Renal Failure Patients in the Nephrology and Hemodialysis Department of Point G University Hospital

Introduction: Chronic renal failure (CRF) is defined as glomerular filtration rate (GFR) less than 60 ml/min/1.73m2 for at least three (3) months. Anemia is one of its most common complications. Anemia increases the risk factor for cardiovascular mortality by 18% per gram of hemoglobin loss. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of this severe anemia, to determine the indications for transfusion, the complications related to this anemia, the evolution and the prognosis of these patients. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study with retrospective data collection over 18 months (January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018) that included hospitalized CRF patients. Were included, non-dialyzed chronic renal failure patients with Hb ≤ 5 g/dl hospitalized during the said period. Not included were chronic renal failure patients with an Hb level ≥ 5 g/dl, those followed up and/or hospitalized outside the study period. Results: Among 1176 patients, 26 had severe anemia (Hb level ≤ 5 g/dl) on CRF, a prevalence of 2.21%. The mean age was 40 years ± 32.62 with extremes of 15 and 67 years. Seventeen women and 9 men. The etiology of chronic renal failure (CRF) was hypertensive vascular nephropathy in 50% of cases. CRF was end-stage in 18 patients (69.2%). The mean hemoglobin level was 4.10 g/dl ± 0.64 with extremes of 2 and 5 g/dl. The anemia was microcytic hypochromic in 50% and aregenerative (96.2%). The main symptoms were asthenia in 20 cases (76.9%), dizziness in 20 cases (76.9%), exertional dyspnea in 19 cases (73.1%). Signs of cardiac decompensation (n = 12) were jugular turgor 10 cases (38.5%), hepato-jugular reflux 06 cases (23.1%), mitral insufficiency murmur 06 cases (23.1%). The main complication was left ventricular hypertrophy 17 cases (77.3%). There was no correlation between anemia and sex (p = 0.291), age (p = 0.778), malaria (p = 0.158), etiology of CRF (p = 0.26). The evolution after treatment of anemia was favorable in 19 patients (73.1%), unfavorable in 02 patients (7.7%) and 05 deaths (19.2%). The deaths were of cardiovascular cause: left ventricular insufficiency 04 cases, stroke 01 case. Conclusion: Anemia is frequent in patients with chronic renal failure and remains an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and poor general condition.

Severe Anemia in a Patient With Mild T Cell Hypofunction Infected With Parvovirus B19

Background Parvovirus B19 is a single-stranded DNA virus with a 5.6 kilobase DNA genome and a diameter of 22–24nm.1 This virus does not possess an envelope and it is the most pathogenic virus belonging to the family of Parvoviridae that infects human beings.2 The main diseases caused by parvovirus B19 are as follows:(1)infectious erythema(also known as fifth disease,erythema infection),a cause of a common rash in pediatric patients;(2)joint disease;(3)aplastic anemia crisis in patients with chronic hemolytic disease;(4)chronic anemia in immunodeficient patients;(5)fetal hydrops in addition to stillbirth and abortion(fetal death).

Excellent response of severe aplastic anemia to treatment of gut inflammation: A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND Cumulative evidence suggests that the aberrant immune responses in acquired aplastic anemia(AA) are sustained by active chronic infections in genetically susceptible individuals. Recently, the constant source to trigger and sustain the pathophysiology has been proposed to come from the altered gut microbiota and chronic intestinal inflammation. In this case, our serendipitous finding provides convincing evidence that the persistently dysregulated autoimmunity may be generated, at least in a significant proposition of AA patients, by the altered gut microbiota and compromised intestinal epithelium.CASE SUMMARY A 30-year-old Chinese male patient with refractory severe AA experienced a 3-month-long febrile episode, and his fever was refractory to many kinds of injected broad-spectrum antibiotics. When presenting with abdominal cramps, he was prescribed oral mannitol and gentamycin to get rid of the gut infection. This treatment resulted in a quick resolution of the fever. Unanticipatedly, it also produced an excellent hematological response. He had undergone three episodes of recurrence within the one-year treatment, with each recurrence occurring 7-8 wk from the gastrointestinal inflammation eliminating preparations. However,subsequent treatments were able to produce subsequent remissions and consecutive treatments were successful in achieving durative hematological improvements, strongly indicating an etiological association between chronic gut inflammation and the development of AA. Interestingly, comorbid diseases superimposed on this patient(namely, psychiatric disorders, hypertension,insulin resistance, and renal dysfunction) were ameliorated together with the hematological improvements.CONCLUSION Chronic gut inflammation may be responsible for AA pathogenesis. The comorbidities and AA may share a common etiological association.

An investigation of long-term outcome of rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporine therapy for pediatric severe aplastic anemia

Children with severe aplastic anemia(SAA)face heterogeneous prognoses after immunosuppressive therapy(IST).There are few models that can predict the long-term outcomes of IST for these patients.The objective of this paper is to develop a more effective prediction model for SAA prognosis based on clinical electronic medical records from 203 children with newly diagnosed SAA.In the early stage,a novel model for long-term outcomes of SAA patients with IST was developed using machine-learning techniques.Among the indicators related to long-term efficacy,white blood cell count,lymphocyte count,absolute reticulocyte count,lymphocyte ratio in bone-marrow smears,C-reactive protein,and the level of IL-6,IL-8 and vitamin B12 in the early stage are strongly correlated with long-term efficacy(P<.05).Taken together,we analyzed the long-term outcomes of rabbit antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine therapy for children with SAA through machine-learning techniques,which may shorten the observation period of therapeutic effects and reduce treatment costs and time.

Analysis of the Prognostic Factors of Very Severe Aplastic Anemia Treated with Chinese Kidney-Invigorating Drugs in Combination with Anti-lymphocyte Globulin or Anti-thymocyte Globulin

Objective： To explore the prognostic factors for very severe aplastic anemia （VSAA） patients treated mainly with Chinese Kidney （Shen）-invigorating drugs （CKID） combined with anti-lymphocyte globulin （ALG） or anti-thymocyte globulin （ATG）. Methods： Twenty-seven VSAh. patients were treated with CSID＋ALG/ ATG therapy in conjunction with cyclosporine A, androgen, hemopoietic growth factor, etc. The relationship of the effectiveness and some factors （age of patients, course of illness, blood and bone marrow figures, etc.） were analyzed. Results： In the 25 evaluated VSAA patients who had been followed up for over 1 year, 9 patients （36.0%） were basically cured, 5 （20.0%） remitted, 6 （24.0%） were markedly improved, and 5 （20.0%） were treated in vain, with the total effective rate of treatment being 80.0% （20/25）. Better clinical therapeutic effects were shown in patients newly diagnosed with VSAA, of male sex （P=0.037）, 〉20 years old （P=0.045）, with an illness course ≤ 1 month （,P=0.048）, with peripheral neutrophil count 〉0.1 × 10^9/L （P=0.023）, and with reticulocyte count 〉10 × 10^9/L （P=0.002）. Platelet count （P=0.620） and bone marrow lymphocyte percentage （P=0.736） showed no correlation with the therapeutic effectiveness. Multi-factor analysis by the Kaplan-Meier procedure on the factors influencing survival showed that rather longer survival times occurred in patients 〉 20 years old, with peripheral neutrophil count ≤〈0.1 × 10^9/L, reticulocyte count ≤10 × 10^9/L, and platelet count 〉 10 × 10^9/L （allP=0.0001）. Bone marrow lymphocyte percentage and the initiation time of ALG/ATG application （from onset of the illness） showed no significant influence on patients＇ survival time （P=0.085 and P=0.935, respectively）. Conclusions： CSKD＋ALG/ATG therapy for treatment of VSAA could enhance the current clinical therapeutic effects and elevate patients＇ survival rate. Conditions including male sex, age 〉20 years, illness course ≤1 month, neutrophil count 〉0.1× 10^9/L, and reticulocyte count 〉10 × 10^9/L are the likely effective indices for predicting favorable therapeutic effectiveness in newly diagnosed VSAA patients.

Combined Use of Chinese Medicine with Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Severe Aplastic Anemia Patients

Objective：To determine the effect of combined treatment with Chinese medicine（CM） and allogeneic hematopoietic stem ceil transplantation（allo-HSCT） on patients with severe aplastic anemia（SAA）.Methods：Eleven patients were treated with CM plus ailo-HSCT.Nine patients received a conditioning regimen consisting of fludarabine（Flu）,anti-thymocyte globulin（pig ALG）,or anti-lymphocyte globulin（Rabbit ATG） and cyclophosphamide（CY）,and two patients received pig ALG and CY.All patients were treated with Kidney（Shen）-reinforcing,blood-activating,and stasis-removing（KBS） herbal preparation beginning at 1 week before transplantation and ending at 8 weeks after transplantation.Chimerism status was assessed by analyzing short tandem repeat（STR） polymorphisms.Results：All patients recovered hematopoietic function and none had graft failure.The median number of days required for the absolute neutrophil count（ANC） increased to 〉0.5× 10~9/L was 15 days（12-22 days） and for spontaneous platelet recovery to 〉20×10~9/L without post-transplantation transfusion was 17 days（15-27 days）.Nine patients were longterm survivors and achieved full donor chimerism.The overall cumulative incidence of acute graft versus host disease（GVHD） grades Ⅰ-Ⅱ and Ⅲ-Ⅳ was 18.2%（2/11） and 9.1%（1 /11）,respectively.The overall accumulated incidence of chronic GVHD was 27.3%and all patients had limited chronic GVHD.At a median follow-up time of 32 months（range：12-97 months）,9 patients were still alive.The estimated 5-year overall survival（OS） rate was 81.8%.The incidence of treatment-related mortality,2-year post-transplantation,was 18.2%.Two patients died from GVHD after transplantation.Conclusion：Treatment with the KBS formulation may reduce the rate of graft failure and treatmentrelated mortality and improve the rate of OS in SAA patients with allo-HSCT.

Haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation for severe acquired aplastic anemia: a case-control study of post-transplant cyclophosphamide included regimen vs. anti-thymocyte globulin & colony-stimulating factor-based regimen

Dear Editor,Haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(haplo-HSCT),a curative therapy for severe aplastic anemia(SAA)patients,has been used clinically for decades.Two models,not involving ex vitro T-cell depletion,have been adopted for haplo-HSCT in patients with SAA.The first is referred to as the"Beijing protocol"(Xu et al.,2017),and comprises a conditioning regimen using busulfex(BU),cyclophosphamide(CY).

Outcomes of haploidentical bone marrow transplantation in patients with severe aplastic anemia-II that progressed from non-severe acquired aplastic anemia

Severe aplastic anemia II(SAA-II)progresses from non-severe aplastic anemia(NSAA).The unavailability of efficacious treatment has prompted the need for haploidentical bone marrow transplantation(haplo-BMT)in patients lacking a human leukocyte antigen(HLA)-matched donor.This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of haplo-BMT for patients with SAA-II.Twenty-two patients were included and followed up,and FLU/BU/CY/ATG was used as conditioning regimen.Among these patients,21 were successfully engrafted,19 of whom survived after haplo-BMT.Four patients experienced grade II–IV aGvHD,including two with grade III–IV aGvHD.Six patients experienced chronic GvHD,among whom four were mild and two were moderate.Twelve patients experienced infections during BMT.One was diagnosed with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder and one with probable EBV disease,and both recovered after rituximab infusion.Haplo-BMT achieved 3-year overall survival and disease-free survival rate of 86.4%±0.73%after a median follow-up of 42 months,indicating its effectiveness as a salvage therapy.These promising outcomes may support haplo-BMT as an alternative treatment strategy for patients with SAA-II lacking HLA-matched donors.

A comparative study of unrelated donor and matched-sibling donor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in children and adolescents with acquired severe aplastic anemia

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of unrelated do-nor allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(URD allo-HSCT).for children and adolescents with severe aplastic anemia(SAA).Methods Clinical data of34 SAA children and adolescents undergoing allo-HSCT were retrospectively analyzed from October 2001 to October 2015.According to the source of donor,the