Rinsho Ketsueki

[Efficacy of granisetron, a 5-HT3 antagonist, in the prevention of nausea and vomiting induced by conditioning for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

Year 1998
Hirabayashi N. Goto S. Morishima Y. Sao H. Matsuyama T. Kodera Y. Yamada H. Horibe K. Yano K. Kojima H. Ogura M. Tanimoto M. Morishita Y. Yazaki M. Utsumi M. Nagata K. Kato Y. Naoe T. Saito H.
No information.
One hundred and eleven patients receiving conditioning regimens for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) were administered a single intravenous dose (40 micrograms/kg) of granisetron before chemo-radio therapy. The efficacy of the drug was assessed every 24 hours, rating the control of nausea and vomiting as complete, major, minor or failure. On day 1, 23 of 48 patients (47.9%) who received cyclophosphamide (60 mg/kg/day), achieved control of emesis with complete or major response. On day 2, 17 of 47 patients (36.2%) achieved control emesis. During total body irradiation (TBI) (10 approximately 12 Gy/2 approximately 3 days), 21 of 33 patients (63.6%) achieved control of emesis on day 1 and 22 of 32 patients (68.6%) achieved control of emesis on day 2. During melphalan administration (60 approximately 100 mg/m2/day), 20 of 28 patients (71.4%) achieved control of emesis on day 1. Adverse effects were observed in seven patients but were not serious. We concluded that granisetron has a major role in preparation for HSCT.

[Clinicopathological study of multiple myeloma associated with hyperammonemia]

Year 1998
Fujii S. Fukuda S. Sezaki T. Murakami M.
Department of Internal Medicine, Okayama National Hospital.
Of 5 multiple myeloma patients with hyperammonemia, autopsy was performed in 4 patients, while amino acid metabolism was examined in 3 patients. As a result they were classified into the following 3 types; A, liver dysfunction and severe liver infiltration of myeloma cells. B, severe liver infiltration without liver dysfunction. C, Neither liver dysfunction nor severe liver infiltration. In one type A patient, isoleucine decreased. In two patients without liver dysfunction (one type C patient and another patient in whom autopsy was not performed) valine, leucine and isoleucine decreased, and tyrosine decreased slightly. The Fischer ratio decreased in these 2 patients, while it decreased slightly in a type A patient. Clinically, in 4 patients hyperammonemia was observed during periods of poor general condition and when refractory to chemotherapy. In an aggressive type case, consciousness disturbance was developed rapidly and multiple myeloma was diagnosed. In all patients, consciousness disturbance was noted. Hyperammonemia might have been caused by hepatic failure or systemic-portal shunt in patients with liver infiltration. In those without liver infiltration, it was suggested that hyperammonemia was caused by myeloma related humoral factors that influence amino acid metabolism.

[Increased erythron transferrin uptake associated with ineffective erythropoiesis in iron deficiency state--the common factors to iron deficiency anemia and portal hypertensions]

Year 1998
Takahashi Y. Umadome H. Ohno Y.
Department of Internal Medicine, Takatsuki Red Cross Hospital.
We calibrated the erythron transferrin uptake (ETU) and efficiency ratio (R-Ef) in erythropoiesis on the basis of ferroerythrokinetic data in 90 patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and 64 patients with noncirrhotic and cirrhotic portal hypertension with splenomegaly (PH). Then we analyzed the data to elucidate how iron deficiency (ID) status effects variation of these values. ETU was significantly higher and R-Ef was lower in IDA subgroup before treatment (n = 71) than those with any recent treatment (n = 19), and in PH with anemia of ID type (PH-ID n = 39) than those without ID state (n = 34). A remarkable inverse correlation was obtained between ETU and R-Ef in both IDA and PH-ID and iron replacement therapy effected synchronous improvement of these values. We deduced the quantitative parameter of ID status (ID-x) on blood chemistry data in IDA by multiple regression of ETU and of R-Ef respectively. These calibration formulae were extrapolated to the data in PH-ID. Thus we delineate the factor which represents ID status in common to these two diseases to increase ETU and decrease R-Ef, although the contribution of ID-x was greater in IDA than PH-ID. Additional factors to enhance or modify these values were shortened survival of erythrocytes, splenomegaly and hepatic dysfunction.

[Acute abdomina pain as a presenting symptom of varicella-zoster virus infection in an allogeneic bone marrow transplant]

Year 1998
Hamanishi T. Nishikawa H. Kobayashi M. Nakao T. Ohagi S. Sasaki H. Matsumoto G. Sanke T. Nanjo K.
First Department of Medicine, Wakayama University of Medical Science.
A 26-year old man was admitted because of acute abdominal pain. He had received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) for aplastic anemia 6 months before. All physical, laboratory, roentgenographic, and ultrasonographic studies were performed but nondiagnostic. On the fourth hospital day the patient developed visual disturbance and on the following day skin eruption appeared. Laboratory findings revealed severe liver dysfunction. We diagnosed this case as varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection with visceral dissemination. Antiviral therapy with acyclovir was initiated and abdominal pain markedly reduced and visual acuity was recovered after 4 days. In case of VZV infection, acute abdominal pain prior to skin eruptions is rare. However in such cases the patients are highly fatal due to visceral dissemination. Antiviral therapy begun before visceral dissemination of VZV is highly effective in preventing serious disease, whereas it is less effective after dissemination. We consider that early diagnosis and treatment of VZV infection is necessary for BMT recipients who are undergoing immunosuppressive therapy.

[Severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) which was successfully treated with supportive therapy, but subsequently developed late-recurrence]

Year 1998
Matsuoka S. Okamoto S. Ishida A. Wakui M. Watanabe R. Moriki T. Ikeda Y. Hirabayashi N.
Department of Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo.
A 40-year-old man with chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase received an allogeneic marrow graft from his HLA identical brother. He was conditioned with busulfan (16 mg/kg) and cyclophosphamide (120 mg/kg). Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was attempted with cyclosporine A (CYA) and methotrexate. On day 30, weight gain, ascites and hepatomegaly developed in addition to an elevation of total bilirubin (TB). He was diagnosed as having veno-occlusive disease (VOD) and treated conservatively. The TB level increased up to 20.1 mg/dl on day 66, then reduced to 2.1 mg/dl on day 129. By that time ascites and hepatomegaly also had completely resolved. However, on day 134. The TB level started to increase again, when the lesions of chronic GVHD were observed in the eye, the mouth, and the skin. CYA was started on day 142, and FK506 was substituted for CYA on day 161. Despite the improvement of oral and skin lesions, TB level continued to rise, and he died of respiratory failure due to ARDS on day 186. Autopsy revealed both acute and old hepatic VOD lesions, suggesting the occurrence of late-onset VOD which probably contributed to the liver dysfunction observed after clinical resolution of the first episode of VOD.

[Acquired pure red cell aplasia associated with relapsed non-Hodgkins lymphoma: a case report-improvement of PRCA after acute hepatitis]

Year 1998
Kuramoto K. Oda K. Katsutani S. Fujii T. Abe K. Imamura N. Kimura A.
Department of Hematology and Oncology, Hiroshima University.
A 47-year-old male patient was admitted because of anemia. He had been diagnosed as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (Follicular mixed, B cell type, stage ISA) by splenectomy two years before. Bone marrow examination on admission revealed lymphoma cell infiltration and marked decrease in erythroid cells. These findings confirmed relapsed lymphoma with acquired pure red cell aplasia. After several courses of combination chemotherapy, lymphoma cells disappeared from bone marrow, but PRCA was not improved. In this case there were two times remission of PRCA. At first time, acute B type hepatitis occurred during the chemotherapy, anemia improved transiently. At the second time, mild acute hepatitis associated with herpes zoster occurred. Twenty days after hepatic injury, PRCA was improved, and continued in remission state till present day. To disclose the mechanism of PRCA in this case, erythroid colony assay of marrow cells was performed. This showed the presence of inhibitory factor in patient's serum at PRCA state, that was considered to be related to the occurrence of PRCA. These findings suggest that the improvement of PRCA was associated with the changes on immunological condition after acute hepatitis in this case.