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Two cases of imported visceral leishmaniasis are described. The first patient was a 32-year-old Czech man who developed leishmaniasis 5 months after a holiday in Italy (Bibione). The second patient was a 62-year-old Czech man who developed leishmaniasis 18 months after visiting Croatia (Makarska); the disease began after a course of chemotherapy due to metastasizing testicular tumor. Both patients were successfully treated with amphotericin B lipid complex (Abelcet). Difficulties in establishing the correct diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis are discussed.

Backgrounds: The Ann Arbor system is typically used for the staging of Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. This classification was nevertheless originally developed in the 1970s for Hodgkin's lymphoma, a disease usually confined to the lymph nodes with less frequent dissemination to extralymphatic organs/tissues and extremely rare primary extranodal involvement. Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, however, are more often associated with extralymphatic involvement and primary extranodal lymphomas are relatively common (approximately 1/3 of cases). Therefore, the value of the Ann Arbor staging system appears to be limited in these cases. An analysis of data from centres participating within the Czech Lymphoma Study Group showed that staging of Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with extranodal involvement is not uniform., Design: At the end of 2009, a draft for a Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas staging system was put forward for use by the lymphoma register of the Czech Lymphoma Study Group with special regard paid to the involvement of extralymphatic organs/tissues. This draft was further refined following comments from members of the Czech Lymphoma Study Group committee and the final form was accepted at the meeting of the Czech Lymphoma Study Group committee in January 2010., Results: A consensus was reached at the meeting of the Czech Lymphoma Study Group committee regarding the staging of various combinations of nodal and extranodal involvement. For the purpose of suitable staging and appropriate treatment intensity, extranodal organs were divided into "major"--liver, lungs, bones, mesothelium (pleura, peritoneum, pericardium) and soft tissues. All other organs were defined as "minor"., Conclusion: The Ann Arbor staging system is suitable for the staging of Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with lymph node/lymphatic tissue involvement. As regards the extralymphatic spread of the disease or primary extranodal lymphomas, this classification should rather be adapted to practical needs. The validity of the updated classification system will be assessed in both prospective and retrospective Czech Lymphoma Study Group studies.

Analyses of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) results are of high importance for decision-making on treatment strategy for patients with SCT as a possible therapeutic alternative. In this paper the Czech National Registry of SCT and Transplantation Centre in Pilsen present their joint retrospective analysis of the results of allogeneic SCT in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) performed in the Czech Republic from 1988 to spring 2005. 295 patients (179 men and 116 women) ranging in age from 6.9 to 59.5 years (median 37.3) underwent transplants. In most cases the donor was an HLA-identical sibling (164; 55.6%) or a voluntary unrelated donor from the register (110; 37.3%), in a minority of cases another relative of the patient (21; 7.1%). Myeloablative conditioning was used in 90% of patients. The source of hematopoietic stem cells was bone marrow in 57%, peripheral blood in 41% and combination of both in 2% of cases. 83.4% of patients underwent transplant in the chronic phase of the illness while 7.8% in the acceleration phase and 6.1% in the blastic phase respectively. The median interval from the diagnosis to SCT was 316 days. Median follow-up after SCT was 2 years. SCT was complicated by acute graft versus host disease of grade II-IV in 33.7% of patients and by chronic graft versus host disease in 36.3% of patients. Median survival was not reached, 18 (6.1%) of patients died due to the relapse of CML and the cause of 101 (34.2%) deaths was transplant-related. Significant trends were observed during the study period: SCT were performed more frequently in older patients, less than one year from the diagnosis, reduced-intensity conditioning was used more often and the source of hematopoietic stem cells was peripheral blood in the majority of patients (p = 0.188 - < 0.0001). Also, transplantation activity changed - the annual rate of SCT increased steadily until 1999, while there was no such an increase between 2000 and 2005. The use of peripheral stem cells was associated with chronic graft versus host disease (p = 0.007). In Cox multivariate analysis the EBMT risk score and the interval from the diagnosis to SCT were identified as independent factors in patient survival. An "ideal" patient, aged under 30, undergoing transplant in the chronic phase of CML within one year since the diagnosis after 2000 had a survival probability of 88% for three years after SCT. It can be concluded that results of allogeneic SCT in CML in the Czech Republic reflect current global trends, are comparable with results achieved in other countries and show significant improvements.