Veronique Van De Velde

Practical implications for the administration of 13-cis retinoic acid in pediatric oncology

Children with high-risk neuroblastoma are treated with polychemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and even autologous stem-cell transplantation. On top of this complex treatment, most children also receive 13-cis retinoic acid as differentiation agent. As no suitable pharmaceutical formulation is available so far, there are often problems with the administration of the product in children. The present report describes some practical recommendations for the administration of isotretinoin in children treated for high-risk neuroblastoma.

Prevention of wrong route errors in a pediatric hemato-oncology ward

Three consecutive wrong route administration errors are described in detail and the ease by which enteral preparations can be given by the wrong route is discussed. By introducing the use of purple oral liquid dispensers in our pediatric department, we hope to prevent and reduce the risk of similar medications errors in the future and to improve patients safety.

Highly effective treatment with tacrolimus ointment in an adolescent with oral graft-versus-host disease

Case We report a case of acute oral graft-versus-host disease in an adolescent, which was successfully treated with tacrolimus 0.1% ointment. Conclusion Although tacrolimus ointment is not licensed for the indication of oral GvHD, this case report provides preliminary evidence for a potential effectiveness of using tacrolimus in case of failure when GvHD is resistant.