Key Points UCBT is a suitable option for children with JMML, being able to cure a relevant proportion of patients. Because disease recurrence remains the major cause of treatment failure after UCBT, strategies aimed at reducing relapse are desirable.

The experience with central venous implantable devices (portacaths) has been reviewed in children attending the Auckland Hospital Haemophilia Centre. Fourteen children had 23 portacaths inserted. Thirteen had severe Haemophilia A, of whom five had high responding inhibitors to factor VIII. All the children were HIV negative. Ages ranged from 4 months to 13 years at the time of initial placement and 12 were under 5 years. Indications for portacath placement included primary and secondary prophylaxis, induction of immune tolerance, prophylactic therapy post intracranial haemorrhage and poor venous access. Catheter-related infections occurred in 48% of cases. Staphylococcal species were the most common organisms isolated followed by gram-negative bacilli. 63% of the infections were successfully cleared with antibiotics. Haematoma formation occurred in 17% of catheters, primarily in patients who had high factor VIII inhibitor levels. Mechanical problems including blockage, leakage and extrusion of the portacath occurred less frequently (13%). The significant rate of infection in this immunocompetent population is consistent with other reports. Despite the obvious benefits of portacaths this complication is potentially serious and causes appreciable morbidity. In contrast, bleeding complication rates were relatively low.

OBJECTIVES Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency (LAD) is a rare primary immune disorder caused by defects of the CD18 β-integrin molecule on immune cells. The condition usually presents in early infancy and is characterised by deep tissue infections, leukocytosis with impaired formation of pus and delayed wound healing. Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) offers the possibility of curative therapy, and with patient numbers at any individual centre being limited, we surveyed the transplant experience at 14 centres worldwide. PATIENTS & METHODS The course of 36 children with a confirmed diagnosis of LAD who underwent HSCT between 1993 and 2007 was retrospectively analysed. Data was collected by the registries of the European Society for Immunodeficiencies (ESID)/European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) RESULTS At median followup of 62 months (extending to 14 years) overall survival was 75%. Myeloablative conditioning regimens were used in 28 patients, and reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) in 8 patients, with no deaths in this subgroup. Survival after matched family donor and unrelated donor transplants was similar, with 11/14 matched family donor and 12/14 unrelated donor recipients alive; mortality was greatest following haplo-identical transplants, where 4/8 children did not survive. Twenty seven transplant recipients are alive, with full donor engraftment in 17 cases, mixed multi-lineage chimerism in 7 patients, and mononuclear cell restricted chimerism in a further 3 cases. CONCLUSIONS HSCT offers long term benefit in LAD and should be considered as an early therapeutic option if a suitable HLA-matched stem cell donation is available. Reduced intensity conditioning was particularly safe, and mixed donor chimersim appears sufficient to prevent significant symptoms, although careful long term monitoring will be required for these patients.

Summary Detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) after induction and consolidation therapy is highly predictive of outcome for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and is used to identify patients at high risk of relapse in several current clinical trials. To evaluate the prognostic significance of MRD at other treatment phases, MRD was measured by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction on a selected group of 108 patients enrolled on the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Cancer Study Group Study VII including 36 patients with a bone marrow or central nervous system relapse and 72 matched patients in first remission. MRD was prognostic of outcome at all five treatment phases tested: at day 15 (MRD ≥ 5 × 10−2, log rank P < 0·0001), day 35 (≥1 × 10−2, P = 0·0001), 4 months (≥5 × 10−4, P < 0·0001), 12 months (MRD ≥ 1 × 10−4, P = 0·006) and 24 months (MRD ≥ 1 × 10−4, P < 0·0001). Day 15 was the best early MRD time‐point to differentiate between patients with high, intermediate and low risk of relapse. MRD testing at 12 and particularly at 24 months, detected molecular relapses in some patients up to 6 months before clinical relapse. This raised the question of whether a strategy of late monitoring and salvage therapy will improve outcome.

Factor replacement with BIOSTATE(®), a factor VIII (FVIII)/von Willebrand factor concentrate, forms the mainstay of treatment for children with von Willebrand disorder (VWD) in Australia and New Zealand. However, published data on the clinical efficacy and safety of BIOSTATE in the VWD paediatric population are limited. We retrospectively assessed the efficacy and safety of BIOSTATE in 43 children with VWD who received treatment for surgery, non-surgical bleeds or continuous prophylaxis at eight paediatric haemophilia centres in Australia and New Zealand. Data were collected on patient demographics, disease history, treatment history, dosage, administration, adverse reactions, concomitant medications and excessive bleeding events. BIOSTATE provided excellent/good haemostatic efficacy in 90% of surgical procedures (n = 42) with a mean daily FVIII dose of 47 IU FVIII:C kg(-1) and a median treatment duration of 3 days. Excellent/good haemostatic efficacy was achieved in 94% of non-surgical bleeding events (n = 72) with a mean FVIII dose of 45 IU FVIII:C kg(-1) day(-1) and a median treatment duration of 1 day. There were no bleeding events attributable to lack of efficacy. One case of nausea, possibly related to BIOSTATE administration, was reported. These results suggest that BIOSTATE is safe and effective for the treatment and prophylaxis of bleeding in children with VWD.