• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.11-27
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• 2002

Allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is one of the effective therapy for several hematologic malignancies. Transplantation preparative regimen is designed to eradicate the patient's underlying disease and immunosuppress the patient adequately to prevent rejection of donor's hematopoietic stem cells. So, conventional myeloablative preparative regimens with high-dose chemotherapy or radiotherapy are related to high rate of morbidity and mortality. However, It has become clear that the high-dose therapy dose not eradicate the malignancy in some patients, and that the therapeutic benefit of allogenic transplantation is largely related to graft-versus-leukemia/graft-versus-tumor (GVL/GVT) effect. An new approach is to utilize less toxic, nonmyeloablative preparative regimens to achieve engraftment and allow GVL/GVT effects to develop. This strategy reduces the risk of treatment-related mortality and allows transplantation for elderly and those with comorbidities that preclude high-dose chemoradiotherapy.

• Annals of Laboratory Medicine
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.591-598
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• 2018

Background: Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) is an important marker of regulatory T cells. FOXP3 polymorphisms are associated with autoimmune diseases, cancers, and allograft outcomes. We examined whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the FOXP3 locus are associated with clinical outcomes after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods: Five FOXP3 SNPs (rs5902434, rs3761549, rs3761548, rs2232365, and rs2280883) were analyzed by PCR-sequencing of 172 DNA samples from allogenic HSCT patients. We examined the relationship between each SNP and the occurrence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), post-HSCT infection, relapse, and patient survival. Results: Patients with acute GVHD (grades II-IV) showed higher frequencies of the rs3761549 T/T genotype, rs5902434 ATT/ATT genotype, and rs2232365 G/G genotype than did patients without acute GVHD (P =0.017, odds ratio [OR]=5.3; P =0.031, OR=2.4; and P =0.023, OR=2.6, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that the TT genotype of rs3761549 was an independent risk factor for occurrence of acute GVHD (P =0.032, hazard ratio=5.6). In contrast, the genotype frequencies of rs3761549 T/T, rs5902434 ATT/ATT, and rs2232365 G/G were lower in patients with post-HSCT infection than in patients without infection (P =0.026, P =0.046, and P =0.031, respectively). Conclusions: rs3761549, rs5902434, and rs2232365 are associated with an increased risk of acute GVHD and decreased risk of post-HSCT infection.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.98-101
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• 2015

Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), which is associated with graft-versus-host disease after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, is a major obstacle to survival after bone marrow transplantation due to its gradual progress, eventually leading to respiratory failure. Pumpless extracorporeal interventional lung assist (iLA) is effective in treatment of reversible hypercapnic respiratory failure. In this paper, we present a 23-year-old female patient who underwent allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) for acute lymphocytic leukemia. After 6 months, she complained of shortness of breath and was diagnosed with BO. Five months later, she developed an upper respiratory tract infection that worsened her BO and caused life-threatening hypercapnia. Since mechanical ventilation failed to eliminate $CO_2$ effectively, iLA was applied as rescue therapy. Her hypercapnia and respiratory acidosis showed significant improvement within a few hours, and she was successfully weaned off iLA after 12 days. This is the first case report of iLA application for temporarily aggravated hypercapnia of PBSCT-associated BO followed by successful weaning. This rescue therapy should be considered in ventilator-refractory reversible hypercapnia in BO patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.71 no.6
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• pp.459-463
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• 2011

Pulmonary complications occur in 40~60% of patients who receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and are a source of substantial morbidity and mortality. Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is an uncommon, non-infectious pulmonary complication occurring in HSCT recipients. We now report the case of a 52-year-old man with AEP who was treated with allogenic HSCT due to acute myeloid leukemia. He complained of fever, cough and dyspnea 390 days after allogenic HSCT. He also had skin and hepatic graft versus host disease (GVHD). Hypoxemia, diffuse pulmonary infiltrates on a chest x-ray and eosinophilia in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were also noted in several tests. His symptoms, pulmonary infiltrates, hepatic dysfunction and skin lesions rapidly improved after treatment with corticosteroid therapy. Our case supports the idea that AEP is a late phase non-infectious pulmonary complication and one of the manifestations of chronic GVHD.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2006

Peripheral bood stem cell collection (PBSCC), including peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT), has been utilized worldwide as a very beneficial treatment method instead of allogenic Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) because it has many advantages such as rapid bone marrow engraftment and hematopoietic recovery, easy and safe accessibility and lower risk of rejection compared with allogenic BMT. In order to identify most the observable parameter in PBSCC, we analyzed various hematological parameters before and after PBSCC, and evaluated the correlation between the time of bone marrow engraftment and the number of CD34+ cells. Thirteen patients, who underwent 54 PBSCCs from January, 2003 to August, 2004 at Chungnam National University Hospital due to various systemic neoplasms, were analyzed in aspects of various hematological parameters including CD34+ cells using by Flow Cytometry (FCM). PBSCC harvests are described below: Mononuclear cells (MNC) $2.3{\pm}1.4{\times}10^8/kg$ and CD34+ cells $0.63{\pm}0.35{\times}10^6/kg$ on average, respectively. There was a statistical significance in Hb and Hct before and after PBSCC, but not in WBC and platelet counts. The period to reach the hematological bone marrow engraftment was 13.4(10~21) days and 19.5(11~38) days according to the criteria of absolute neutrophile counts (ANC) ${\geq}500/uL$ and platelet counts ${\geq}50,000/{\mu}L$ in peripheral blood, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the numbers of CD34+ cell and ANC (p<0.05), and a borderline significance between MNC and ANC (p=0.051). We found that a group of patients, who were infused with CD34+ cells more than $3.5{\times}10^6/kg$, reached more rapidly the period of bone marrow engraftment in platelet counts (p=0.040). This present study suggested that Hb and Hct were the most useful parameters and should be closely monitored before and after PBSCC, that a PBSCT with the dosage of more than $3.5{\times}10^6/kg$ of CD34+ cells was needed to perform successful bone marrow engraftment, and additionally that platelet counts could be more useful in indicating bone marrow engraftment than ANC.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.147-154
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• 2012

Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is a treatment for immune deficiency, autoimmune diseases, and hematopoietic malignancies. The main complication of allogenic HSCT is graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Oral mucosal biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis and treatment planning of GVHD, but this procedure causes bleeding and bacteremia in a poor general condition. We evaluated the efficacy of laser-assisted biopsy as a minimally invasive treatment. Three cases were described in this article. All patients' medical records, clinical photographs, and histopathologic findings were reviewed. All patients felt comfortable and no severe complications occurred. The quality of the obtained biopsy material was adequate for a definitive diagnosis of GVHD. Laser-assisted, minimally invasive biopsy of the oral mucosa does not cause bleeding, and it reduces the chances of infection, bacteremia, and postoperative scarring compared to the usual histopathologic biopsy procedure. It would thus be advantageous to use this procedure to biopsy GVHD patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.173-180
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• 2006

Purpose : Cytomegalovirus(CMV) infection still remains as a major cause of morbidity and mortality after stem cell transplantation. In this study, we analyzed the results of antigenemia-guided preemptive therapy among children with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to determine the incidence and risk factors associated with CMV antigenemia, and evaluated the efficacy of the CMV antigenemia based preemptive therapy. Methods : We enrolled 213 pediatric patients following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT), at the Catholic HSCT center between October 1998 and December 2003. Pre-emptive ganciclovir was started when more than 5 CMV Ag-positive cells were detected in matched sibling HSCT, and when any Ag-positive cells were seen in unrelated allogenic HSCT. Results : CMV antigenemia was observed in 88(41.3 percent) of 213 patients on median day 28(day 11-99). In univariated analysis, use of unrelated donors(other than siblings), age of recipient(more than 5 years at transplant) at transplantation, the presence of recipient CMV-IgG before transplantation, TBI-based conditioning regimen and the presence of acute GvHD(grade ${\geq}II$) were the risk factors for positive CMV antigenemia. In multivariate analysis, unrelated bone marrow transplantation, positive recipient CMV serology and acute GvHD(grade ${\geq}II$) were the independent risk factors for positive CMV antigenemia. Conclusion : Risk factors of CMV infection in children were CMV serostatus of the recipient, the source of stem cells, and acute graft-versus-host disease. The pre-emptive therapy based on CMV antigenemia was effective in the prevention of CMV disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.370-375
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• 2002

Purpose : In most cases, myelodysplastic syndrome(MDS) transforms into a more aggressive state or acute myelogenous leukemia; it's prognosis is very poor. It is believed that hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT) is the only curative treatment of MDS, but available data in children are very sparse. In this report, the short term outcome of HSCT in childhood MDS was analyzed. Methods : Ten children with MDS(CMMoL 5, RAEB 3, RAEBt 2) underwent HSCT(HLA-matched sibling transplantation 4, HLA-matched unrelated transplantation 4, cord blood transplantation 1, HLA-mismatched familial transplantation 1) between November 1995 and January 2001 at St. Mary's Hospital. Median follow-up duration was 11 months. Results : Engraftment was successful in all cases and 8 patients are alive without disease. Three cases of VOD were observed and improved without complication. Four cases of grade II and 1 case of grade III acute GVHD were observed and well controlled with treatment. Three patients relapsed after transplantation. One patient is alive without disease after cytoreduction with allogenic stem cell rescue and 2 patients died of relapse. Conclusion : HSCT is a curative strategy of MDS and the survival rate is relatively higher than that of adults. But there is an obvious need for more studies because of the small number of patients and the short duration of the follow-up.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.411-422
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• 2020

With the increasing number of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), very early-onset IBD (VEO-IBD), defined as IBD that is diagnosed or that develops before 6 years of age, has become a field of innovation among pediatric gastroenterologists. Advances in genetic testing have enabled the diagnosis of IBD caused by gene mutations, also known as monogenic or Mendelian disorder-associated IBD (MD-IBD), with approximately 60 causative genes reported to date. The diagnosis of VEO-IBD requires endoscopic and histological evaluations. However, satisfactory small bowel imaging studies may not be feasible in this small population. Both genetic and immunological approaches are necessary for the diagnosis of MD-IBD, which can differ among countries according to the available resources. As a result of the use of targeted gene panels covered by the national health insurance and the nationwide research project investigating inborn errors of immunity, an efficient approach for the diagnosis of MD-IBD has been developed in Japan. Proper management of VEO-IBD by pediatric gastroenterologists constitutes a challenge. Some MD-IBDs can be curable by allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. With an understanding of the affected gene functions, targeted therapies are being developed. Social and psychological support systems for both children and their families should also be provided to improve their quality of life. Multidisciplinary team care would contribute to early diagnosis, proper therapeutic interventions, and improved quality of life in patients and their families.