Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a 7-year-old girl with congenital erythropoietic porphyria: a treatment dilemma

Congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP, Günther's disease) has a very variable phenotype. In the more severely affected, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is potentially curative, but is not without risks. We describe a 7-year-old girl with CEP characterized by severe photosensitivity but only mild anaemia, in whom the difficult decision to proceed with allogeneic BMT was made after discussion in a multidisciplinary team. She has shown successful engraftment, accompanied by biochemical and clinical resolution of her metabolic disease. She remains well 3 years later, the oldest patient with CEP receiving BMT to survive beyond 12 months. However, she has experienced significant morbidity including florid cutaneous graft-versus-host disease with postinflammatory hypopigmentation. Her case is important in highlighting the delay in diagnosis not uncommon in this condition and the complex decision-making process involved in proceeding with BMT.

Improving hospital doctors' working lives: online questionnaire survey of all grades

BACKGROUND

In 2001, the Department of Health produced the Improving Working Lives (IWL) for Doctors document. This is the first national survey which asks hospital doctors what changes are needed to improve their working lives.

METHODS

An online questionnaire was run over a period of six weeks and was open to all doctors of all grades. Doctors were asked to choose their top five factors from a list of 35 diverse choices or to provide alternatives in free text. Demographic data were also collected.

RESULTS

1603 hospital doctors working in the UK completed the online questionnaire. Improved secretarial or managerial support was the first IWL choice for consultants, with different aspects of clinical and non-clinical support representing their top four choices. Junior hospital doctors and staff and associate specialist grades (staff grades, associate specialists, and clinical assistants) identified improved support for education and training as their first choice, while among the female specialist registrars, it was improved support for childcare. Greater opportunities to develop new skills was an important issue for doctors in the surgical specialties and improved access to mentoring was important for all junior doctors, staff and associate specialist grades, and doctors from black and ethnic minority groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospital doctors in the UK need more support to improve their working lives. The principle needs are better secretarial and managerial support for consultants; education, training, and mentoring for junior doctors and staff and associate specialist grades; and improved opportunities to develop new skills for those in surgical specialties. Support with childcare is an important issue for female specialist registrars. The Department of Health, NHS trusts, deaneries, and Royal Colleges need to endorse policies that promote a training and working environment that will improve working lives for all hospital doctors, ensuring that appropriate and continuing support is available from the time doctors enter the new foundation programmes and proposed run-through grades, to their time spent as consultants in today's NHS.

A keratin 14 'knockout' mutation in recessive epidermolysis bullosa simplex resulting in less severe disease

Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is a blistering skin disease caused in most cases by mis-sense mutations in genes encoding the basal epidermal keratin (K) 5 and K14. The inheritance is usually autosomal dominant and the mutant keratin proteins appear to exert a dominant negative effect on the keratin intermediate filament cytoskeleton in basal keratinocytes. We report a child with a homozygous K14 mutation resulting in the complete absence of K14 protein in the epidermis; remarkably, he only had mild to moderate disease. Electron microscopy of a skin biopsy showed a marked reduction in numbers of keratin intermediate filaments in the basal keratinocytes. Immunofluorescence microscopy using monoclonal antibody LL001 against K14 showed no staining, suggesting a functional knockout of K14. Sequence analysis of genomic DNA revealed a homozygous mutation in codon 31 of K14 that resulted in a premature stop codon further downstream in exon 1. The child's mother, who is unaffected by the disease, is heterozygous for the mutation. The consanguineous father was unaffected and unavailable for testing. The resulting mRNA is predicted to encode a protein of 116 amino acids, of which the first 30 are identical to the normal K14 sequence, and the remaining 86 residues are mis-sense sequence. Four previously reported cases of autosomal recessive EBS with functional knockout of K14 were severely affected by blistering, in contrast to our patient in whom the predicted protein has only the first 30 amino acids of K14 and is therefore the closest to a true knockout of K14 protein yet identified.

Cyclosporine in severe childhood atopic dermatitis: a multicenter study

BACKGROUND

Severe atopic dermatitis (AD) remains difficult to treat. Cyclosporine is effective in adults but has not previously been investigated in children with AD.

OBJECTIVE

The aims were to investigate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of cyclosporine in severe refractory childhood AD.

METHODS

Subjects 2 to 16 years of age were treated for 6 weeks with cyclosporine, 5 mg/kg per day, in an open study. Disease activity was monitored every 2 weeks by means of sign scores, visual analogue scales for symptoms, and quality-of-life questionnaires. Adverse events were monitored. Efficacy and tolerability were assessed with five-point scales.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven children were treated. Significant improvements were seen in all measures of disease activity. Twenty-two showed marked improvement or total clearing. Quality of life improved for both the children and their families. Tolerability was considered good or very good in 25 subjects.

CONCLUSION

Cyclosporine may offer an effective, safe, and well-tolerated short-term treatment option for children with severe AD.