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Biomedical subjects

E Gerritsen

Publications and source records attributed to E Gerritsen.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Monoclonal gammopathies in children.

Over a 10-year period sera of 4000 pediatric patients were subjected to agar gel electrophoresis and immunoelectrophoresis. Retrospective examination of the electrophoresis patterns indicated that single or multiple homogeneous immunoglobulin components were present in sera of 155 children (3.9%). They were most frequently found in patients suffering from primary and secondary immunodeficiency diseases, hematological malignancies, autoimmune diseases, and severe aplastic anemia. Follow-up analysis revealed that most of these monoclonal gammopathies were transient. The monoclonal gammopathies in the serum of 79 patients were identified by immunoblotting for class and light-chain isotypes. A marked absence of IgA monoclonal gammopathies and a predominance of monoclonal gammopathies of the lambda light-chain isotype were found. Most of the B-cell mono- or oligoclonal proliferations in children can probably develop due to a disturbance in the regulatory T-cell function.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

C-reactive protein in the management of children with fever after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

The value of C-reactive protein (CRP) determinations in the analysis of fever after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was studied prospectively by serial measurements of serum CRP levels during 30 BMT episodes in 28 children and adolescents. The treatments and procedures accompanying BMT did not elicit a significant CRP response. Forty-three febrile episodes were registered and analyzed, without previous knowledge of the results of CRP determinations. The incidence of bacterial infection and acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) was low, 8/30 and 5/30, respectively. Raised CRP levels occurred only once in association with GvHD. A CRP level higher than 50 mg/l was not sensitive as an indicator of bacterial infection (4/8). A CRP level below 50 mg/l in the presence of fever, however, excluded bacterial infection with a specificity of 86% and a negative predictive value of 88%. When timed properly and interpreted together with clinical and microbiological findings, CRP measurements can be a valuable aid in the management of fever after BMT, especially as a negative predictor.

Adolescent↗