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Objective: According to Papoušek (2004), "disinterests in play" in early childhood is a possible early indicator of AD(H)D at school age. The phenomenon of disinterest in play is associated with psychological distress in parents and children as well as with disturbances in the parent-child-relationships Papoušek, 2003. We investigated the association between disinterest in play in early childhood and AD(H)D and their associations with maternal distress., Method: Mothers of 35 children with AD(H)D [age: M (SD)= 9.0 (1.1) years; males: 30 (85.7 %)] and mothers of 42 children without AD(H)D [age: M (SD) = 8.8 (1.0) years; males: 35 (83.3 %)] gave their written informed consent to participate in the study. Using a questionnaire on the ability to play during the first 4 years of age, subjects were grouped into 39 children with lower interest in play and 38 children with higher interest in play. Maternal stress was assessed using a German adaptation of the Parenting Stress Index Abidin, 1995., Results: The rate of AD(H)D and maternal stress was significantly higher in the group of children with lower interest in play. Mothers of children showing both AD(H)D and lower interest in play scored highest, mothers of children presenting neither behavior disorder scored lowest., Conclusions: The results agree with the assumption that disinterest in play in early childhood is associated with the development of AD(H)D and an additional stressor for mothers.

Background: In adult cancer patients the negative predictive value of elevated CRP levels has been described for several malignancies. Only few studies have analyzed the prognostic role of CRP in children and adolescents with classical HL. In these studies elevated CRP levels correlate with the presence of classical risk factors and adverse outcome., Patients and Methods: The prognostic role of CRP for patients with classical HL admitted to the GPOH-HD-2002 study was analyzed retrospectively., Results: CRP levels were documented for 369 of 573 patients. Significant (p<0.05) increased median CRP levels were found in the presence of B-Symptoms (25.7 vs. 5.1 mg/l), extranodal involvement (21.5 vs. 7.5 mg/l), elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, 13.0 vs. 1.0 mg/l) and stage III/IV disease (15.5 vs. 5.3 mg/l). 83.9% of patients with elevated and 45.8% of patients with normal CRP had an ESR >30 mm/h., Conclusion: Elevated CRP levels were associated with classical risk factors of HL. CRP and ESR may reflect different biological processes. CRP was prognostic within early stage TG-1 patients treated with reduced treatment, but not within advanced stage TG-2+3., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: Risk stratification criteria for patients with Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) are still limited. We hypothesized divergent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) patterns in ESFT patients and compared HLA-A, -B and -DR phenotype frequencies of patients with advanced ESFT with those of healthy controls., Patients: HLA types of all German Caucasian patients with advanced ESFT and available HLA-A, -B and -DR data registered in the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Paediatric Registry for Stem Cell Transplantation and the MetaEICESS data bases (study group, n=30) were retrospectively compared with HLA types of healthy German stem cell donors (control group, n=8 862 for single HLA frequencies and n=8 839 for allele combinations). Study group patients had been immuno-typed due to eligibility for allogeneic stem cell transplantation for high risk of treatment failure, and thus constituted a selected subgroup of ESFT patients., Results: After Bonferroni correction for multiple testing (PC), phenotype frequencies of HLA-A24 remained significantly higher in the study group compared to controls (PC<0.05). Furthermore, several HLA combinations were significantly more frequent in the study group compared to controls (all PC<0.05)., Conclusion: We report an increased incidence of circumscribed HLA patterns in German Caucasians with advanced ESFT. The possible clinical significance of this observation has to be re-assessed in prospective trials comprising larger ESFT patient numbers of all risk groups., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Objective: To present preliminary results of a pilot project on the prevention of alcohol-associated problems in adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication., Method: Questionnaires were filled in by 110 of 128 adolescents (85.9% response rate) who had been admitted to a hospital in Munich, Germany, between December 2007 and July 2008, because of alcohol intoxication. Data were obtained on sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol intoxication and drinking patterns, and were analysed using descriptive methods., Results: Half of these adolescents mainly suffered from moderate to severe degrees of alcohol intoxication. Drinking patterns leading to alcohol intoxication were characterized by relatively low drinking frequency interspersed by episodes of excessive alcohol intake (binge drinking). Thirteen (14.8%) of the adolescents reported previous hospital admissions for alcohol intoxication, nine (17.3%) did not know about the life-threatening danger of alcohol intoxication and twelve (22.2%) reported taking illegal drugs within the last 12 months., Conclusion: Adolescents who had been admitted to hospital because of alcohol intoxication had a drinking pattern which put them at a higher risk for alcohol intoxication and acute alcohol-related problems than adolescents in the general population. Re-admission to hospital within 12 months because of alcohol intoxication, revealing a lack of knowledge about the life-threatening danger of alcohol intoxications and of consuming illegal drugs, may indicate an increased risk for alcohol-related problems. This points to the need for preventive action in adolescents showing these indicators, a need that was met within this pilot project by brief intervention.

Background: Myeloablative megatherapy is commonly used to improve the poor outlook of children with high-risk neuroblastoma, yet its role is poorly defined. We aimed to assess whether megatherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation could increase event-free survival and overall survival compared with maintenance chemotherapy., Methods: 295 patients with high-risk neuroblastoma (ie, patients with stage 4 disease aged older than 1 year or those with MYCN-amplified tumours and stage 1, 2, 3, or 4S disease or stage 4 disease and <1 year old) were randomly assigned to myeloablative megatherapy (melphalan, etoposide, and carboplatin) with autologous stem-cell transplantation (n=149) or to oral maintenance chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide (n=146). The primary endpoint was event-free survival. Secondary endpoints were overall survival and the number of treatment-related deaths. Analyses were done by intent to treat, as treated, and treated as randomised., Findings: Intention-to-treat analysis showed that patients allocated megatherapy had increased 3-year event-free survival compared with those allocated maintenance therapy (47% [95% CI 38-55] vs 31% [95% CI 23-39]; hazard ratio 1.404 [95% CI 1.048-1.881], p=0.0221), but did not have significantly increased 3-year overall survival (62% [95% CI 54-70] vs 53% [95% CI 45-62]; 1.329 [0.958-1.843], p=0.0875). Improved 3-year event-free survival and 3-year overall survival were also recorded for patients given megatherapy in the as-treated group (n=212) and in the treated-as-randomised group (n=145). Two patients died from therapy-related complications during induction treatment. No patients given maintenance therapy died from acute treatment-related toxic effects. Five patients given megatherapy died from acute complications related to megatherapy., Interpretation: Myeloablative chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation improves the outcome for children with high-risk neuroblastoma despite the raised risk of treatment-associated death.

Background: As a result of improved therapeutic and diagnostic modalities the survival rate of children with neoplastic disease has increased dramatically. The consequences of these scientific advances have led to increased malignancy-related critical complications requiring the expertise of intensive care practitioners., Patients: From all children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the Martin-Luther University Halle those with hematologic-oncologic condition were evaluated., Results: From 4068 PICU admissions 196 (4.8%) oncologic patients were identified. Most of them were admitted for postoperative care, monitoring or intervention. 24 patients were admitted because of severe disease or treatment related complications. 14 out of 24 (58%) patients died on PICU. Mortality was significant higher in a subgroup requiring mechanical ventilation or suffering from sepsis. All patients but two with multi-organ system failure (> or = 2 organs) died., Conclusions: Children with neoplastic disease can benefit from pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) support. Successful treatment of life-threatening complications requires a close cooperation of pediatric oncology and PICU. Further studies are necessary to improve therapeutic strategies in oncology patients requiring PICU admission.

Unlabelled: Risk factors for venous thrombosis in adults are the prothrombin (PT) G20210A, the factor (F) V G1691A mutations and hereditary deficiencies of protein C, protein S and antithrombin. However, data are limited on the relevance of these risk factors for thrombosis in children and adolescents. We therefore investigated 119 patients aged 0-18 with spontaneous venous thrombosis and controls (n = 100) for the presence of the factor V G1691A mutation and the prothrombin G20210A variant with respect to thrombotic onset and thrombosis location. The following frequencies (patients vs. controls), odds ratios (OR), 95%-confidence intervals (CI) and p-values were found: FV G1691A, 19.3% vs. 5%, OR/CI 4.55/1.66-12.5, p = 0.0038 and prothrombin G20210A, 8.4% vs. 3%, OR/CI 2.96/0.8-11, p = 0.17. A combination of the FV G1691A mutation with the PT G20210A variant was found in 3 children (2.5% of cases) but only once in the controls. With a median (range) age of 2 years (0-17), carriers of the FV mutation were significantly younger compared with patients carrying the PT variant (16 years: 0-18, p < 0.001). Vascular accidents in carriers of the FV mutation occurred in deep veins of the leg (n = 11), cerebral veins (n = 4), renal veins (n = 3) and portal veins (n = 2). Patients with the PT mutation showed spontaneous thrombosis in the majority of cases in the deep veins of the leg (n = 5) and in the central nervous system (n = 2). Combined defects were found in a neonate with renal venous thrombosis and in two adolescents with deep vein thrombosis., Conclusion: Data presented here suggest that the heterozygous FV mutation is the most commonly found prothrombotic risk factor responsible for spontaneous thrombosis during infancy and early childhood. In contrast, the PT G20210A variant is likely to be more important during puberty and adolescence.

Background: Patients (pts) with primary metastatic Ewing tumours (ET) have a poor prognosis for event free survival (EFS) compared to pts with localised disease. Following relapse the prognosis is extremely poor. Therefore these primary metastatic and relapsed pts were piloted for high dose therapy (HDT) for the last years., Patients and Methods: Between April 1984 and May 1997, 131 ET pts who underwent HDT were registered in the German CESS/EICESS office: 79 pts with primary metastases and 52 pts with relapsed tumours. After induction therapy, consisting of chemotherapy and local therapy, pts received high dose regimens, mainly based on melphalan and/or etoposide (92%). Stem cell rescue was applied from allogeneic bone marrow (n = 13), autologous bone marrow (n = 17), or peripheral blood stem cells (n = 95). The date of analysis was September 1st, 1998. Outcome was calculated by Kaplan-Meier-analyses., Results: The median time under study since high dose therapy was 3.7 years. 35/131 pts (26.7%) were in continuous complete remission, 80/131 pts (61.1%) had relapsed or progressed, 11/131 pts (8.4%) died of complications and 5/131 pts (3.8%) presented with secondary malignancies. For the total group of primary metastatic pts, EFS five years after diagnosis was 19% for pts with HDT and 27% for those without (p = 0.9209). The subgroup of pts with primary lung and bone metastases seemed to benefit from HDT (EFS five years after diagnosis: 34% versus 5%, p = 0.0001). Outcome of pts with an early ET relapse (< 2 years) was also improved by HDT (EFS four years after relapse: 17% versus 2%, p = 0.0001)., Conclusions: The total group of primary metastatic ET pts showed no obvious benefit from HDT, based on melphalan and/or etoposide. Pts with metastases to multiple organ systems, and early relapse seemed to benefit from HDT. The value of HDT should be assessed in prospective clinical trials.

In Germany allotransplantation of bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells is presently performed by 34 different teams operating more or less independently. Thus, strategies of immunogenetic donor search, use of the various tissue typing techniques and policy on acceptable HLA mismatches in related and unrelated settings may vary considerably from one transplant centre to another. This paper summarises the results of the first German consensus meeting on immunogenetic donor search for bone marrow/peripheral blood stem cell grafting. The main goal of the participating transplant physicians and immunogeneticists was to define national standards for the above issues.