To explore the feasibility of cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) in leukemia patients after chemotherapy.
Leukemia patients with histologically confirmed hematologic malignancies were reviewed. We evaluated for CPET, between receiving chemotherapy and undergoing stem cell transplantation after 2 weeks. We recorded exercise testing and physiologic parameters during CPET between January 2013 to May 2015. All patients were subjected to symptoms limited to exercise testing, according to the Modified Bruce Protocol. We considered that if respiratory exchange ratio achieved was over 1.10, participants had successfully completed CPET. We dichotomized all participants into two groups (normal group, normal range of resting heart rate; higher group, over 100 per minute of heart rate).
30 patients were finally enrolled. All participants had no adverse effects during the exercise test. Mean peak double product was 26,998.60 mmHg·beats/min (range, 15,481–41,004), and mean peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) was 22.52±4.56 mL/kg/min. Significant differences were observed in the normal group with VO2 peak (mean, 24.21 mL/kg/min; p=0.027) and number of prior intensive chemotherapy, compared to the higher group (mean, 1.95; p=0.006).
Our results indicate that CPET in leukemia patients before stem cell transplantation was very safe, and is an efficient method to screen for patients with poor cardiac functions. As CPET presents the parameters which reveal the cardiopulmonary functions, including VO2 peak, double product and exercise capacity, this exercise test would help to predict the physical performance or general condition of the leukemia patients.
Citations
Myeloid sarcoma is a solid, extramedullary tumor comprising of immature myeloid cells. It may occur in any organ; however, the invasion of peripheral nervous system is rare. Herein, we report the case of myeloid sarcoma on the brachial plexus. A 37-year-old woman with acute myelogenous leukemia achieved complete remission after chemotherapy. One year later, she presented right shoulder pain, progressive weakness in the right upper extremity and hypesthesia. Based on magnetic resonance images (MRI) and electrophysiologic study, a provisional diagnosis of brachial plexus neuritis was done and hence steroid pulse therapy was carried out. Three months later the patient presented epigastric pain. After upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, myeloid sarcoma of gastrointestinal tract was confirmed pathologically. Moreover, 18-fluoride fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography showed a fusiform shaped mass lesion at the brachial plexus overlapping with previous high signal lesion on the MRI. Therefore, we concluded the final diagnosis as brachial plexopathy due to myeloid sarcoma.
Citations
Objective: Recently, cultured myoblast transplantation has been extensively studied as a gene complementation approach in such genetic diseases as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In the present work we investigated the stimulating effects of the growth factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1), on growth rate and differentiation of myoblast.
Method: Human myoblasts were cultured from biopsy and treated in vitro with various concentration of bFGF, LIF and IL-1. In serum-free defined medium the following observation were made to evaluate differentiation.
Results: bFGF and LIF except IL-1 were found to have stimulating effect of myoblast proliferation comparing to control group (p<0.05), yet there were no statistically significant differences among each growth factors (p>0.05). The most significant growth stimulation of myoblasts in culture was achieved by adding 3.0 ng/ml of bFGF, producing a stimulation effect up to 2.01-fold. All myoblasts treated with growth factors differentiated into myotube.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that bFGF and LIF stimulate the proliferation of myoblast, which may result in an effective way in producing large numbers of myoblasts for clinical myoblast transplantation in DMD patients. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2002; 26: 426-431)
Intrathecal administration of methotrexate is one of the standard therapies in the acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Spinal puncture and tapping for intrathecal administration of methotrexate is considered as a routine procedure but this procedure carries risks of spinal hematoma in ALL patients. Spinal hematoma after spinal puncture is an uncommon
condition, but it can occur more often in patients with thrombocytopenic or coagulation disorder. We report 4 year-4 month-old boy of ALL with spinal hematoma leading to paraplegia following lumbar puncture for intrathecal methotrexate treatment. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2002; 26: 104-107)