Juan Manuel Carrillo

Disseminated histoplasmosis in infants

BACKGROUND Disseminated histoplasmosis usually occurs in immunocompromised patients who reside in Histoplasma capsulatum-endemic regions. It has also been described in immunocompetent infants after exposure to a large inoculum of the pathogen resulting in case fatality rates of 40 to 50%. METHODS From 1983 through 1996 all infants with documented disseminated histoplasmosis were treated with amphotericin B followed by daily ketoconazole for 3 months. Immunologic workups were performed at the time of diagnosis and at 4 to 6 weeks of therapy. Surviving patients were followed for at least 1 year. Time to resolution of signs and symptoms was recorded, as were complications. RESULTS We managed 40 patients with disseminated histoplasmosis. The age in months at diagnosis was 15.3+/-10.2 (mean +/- SD), and 24 were male. All patients were from endemic regions and they presented with fever, spleen and/or liver enlargement and hematologic abnormalities. Diagnosis was made by histology and culture of bone marrow, spleen, lymph node, bronchoalveolar or liver samples. Twenty patients presented with T cell deficiency that resolved at 4 to 6 weeks of therapy in all of the retested patients, and 10 of 12 tested patients had hyperglobulinemia that resolved. Thirty-five (88%) patients were cured by treatment; 4 died and 1 relapsed. CONCLUSIONS Disseminated histoplasmosis should be considered in infants from endemic areas who present with fever, hepatosplenomegaly and hematologic abnormalities. These patients develop transient hyperglobulinemia and T cell deficiency that resolve with treatment. Treatment with amphotericin B followed by an oral azole for 3 months is effective in most patients.

Visceral Leishmaniasis in Costa Rica: First Case Report

We describe a 15-month-old eutrophic immunocompetent male who presented with fever, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia, and hypergammaglobulinemia. Leishmania amastigotes were identified in spleen and bone marrow specimens. In addition, tissue culture, animal inoculation, and isoenzyme analysis identified the parasite as Leishmania donovani infantum or Leishmania donovani chagasi. The infant was successfully treated with an antimonial drug. These findings represent the first case of visceral leishmaniasis reported in Costa Rica.

Molecular and epidemiologic findings of childhood acute leukemia in Costa Rica.

In Central America, nearly 70% of pediatric cancer is related to hemato-oncologic disorders, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Preliminary studies have described a high incidence of childhood leukemia in these countries; however, no molecular analyses of these malignancies have yet been carried out. We studied diagnostic samples from 84 patients from the National Childrens Hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica (65 precursor B-ALL, 5 T-cell ALL, and 14 acute myeloblastic leukemia). Our methodology included cytogenetic, fluorescent in situ hybridization, and polymerase chain reaction approaches. The observed rate of leukemia was 52.2 cases per million children per year. Twelve out of 65 (18.4%) precursor B-ALL tested positive for TEL-AML1 and 3 cases for BCR-ABL (4.6%). In addition, we detected 2 patients carrying an E2A-PBX1 transcript (3.1%) and 1 patient with an MLL-AF4 fusion gene (1.5%). None of the T-cell ALL cases were positive for either SIL-TAL1 or HOX11L2. Within 14 acute myeloblastic leukemia patients, we confirmed 2 cases with FLT3-internal tandem duplication+, 1 patient with AML1-ETO, and only 1 case carrying a PML-RARα rearrangement. The present study confirms the relatively high incidence of pediatric leukemia in Costa Rica and constitutes the first report regarding the incidence of the main molecular alterations of childhood leukemia in our region.

OP27.01: Uterine artery Doppler in a high risk population from Chile

A. A. Shamshirsaz1, S. Ravangard1, A. A. Shamshirsaz3, A. Prabulos1, W. Campbell1, R. Billstrom1, A. Sadowski1, J. Makari2, F. A. Ferrer2, K. Herbst2, J. Egan1 1Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA; 2Pediatric Urology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT, USA; 3Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA