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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The best therapeutic approach for aggressive relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis remains unknown. The objective was to compare the efficacy and safety of autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aHSCT) and alemtuzumab in aggressive relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. METHODS The time to first relapse, time to confirmed disability worsening, time to first evidence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity and time to first evidence of disease activity were compared between the two treatment groups. Secondary outcomes included the 12, 24 and 36 month annualized relapse rate (ARR) and the 6-month confirmed Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) changes at months 12 and 24. RESULTS Fifty-seven patients treated with aHSCT (n = 25) or alemtuzumab (n = 32) were included. At baseline, aHSCT patients had a higher EDSS (median score 6 vs. 3; P

M. Mikulska, V. Del Bono, R. Prinapori, L. Boni, A.M. Raiola, F. Gualandi, M.T. Van Lint, A. Dominietto, T. Lamparelli, P. Cappellano, A. Bacigalupo, C. Viscoli. Risk factors for enterococcal bacteremia in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 2010: 12: 505–512. All rights reserved Abstract: Bacteremia is a well known cause of morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients and enterococci are among the most frequently isolated pathogens. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for enterococcal bacteremia during the first 30 days after allogeneic HSCT. A retrospective case–control study was performed; for each case, 3 controls were randomly selected among 306 patients transplanted during the study period (January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007). Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for variables influencing the risk for bacteremia. Overall, 33 patients developed enterococcal bacteremia, within a median of 9 days after HSCT (range, 2–24). The cumulative incidence was 10.8%. Multivariate analysis identified the following variables as risk factors for enterococcal bacteremia: donor and transplant type (greater risk for mismatched related or cord blood) (OR=8.98, 95% CI, 1.65–48.99 and OR=7.52, 95% CI, 1.56–36.31, respectively, P=0.047); severe (grades 3–4) mucositis (OR=9.04, 95% CI, 1.97–41.52, P=0.018); pharyngeal enterococcal colonization (OR=4.48, 95% CI, 1.11–18.03, P=0.035); and previous empirical therapy with cephalosporins (OR=4.16, 95% CI, 0.93–18.66 for 1–7 days of therapy, and OR=7.31, 95% CI, 1.78–30.12 for 8–23 days, P=0.018). Higher Karnofsky score (≥50) and previous empirical therapy with glycopeptides were associated with a decreased risk (OR=0.25, 95% CI, 0.06–0.97, P=0.045 and OR=0.11, 95% CI, 0.02–0.59, P=0.010, respectively). The crude mortality at 7 and 30 days was 12% (4/33) and 24% (8/33), respectively. Enterococcal bacteremia is frequent after allogeneic HSCT. The factors associated with this infection are type of transplant, pharyngeal colonization, severe mucositis, and use of cephalosporins. Good general conditions and the use of vancomycin were associated with lower risk of enterococcal bacteremia.

One hundred and fifty acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients in first remission received an allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT), after conditioning with cyclophosphamide 120 mg/kg and total body irradiation (TBI) 3.3 Gy × 3 (total nominal dose 9.9). The received dose, as recorded by thermoluminescent dosimeters, ranged between 7.83 and 12.25 Gy. Patients who received TBI