0000000000810551
AUTHOR
Maryam Ghalibafian
Exacerbation of ulcerative colitis after rituximab salvage therapy
Background: B-cells are considered to play a pathogenic role in human ulcerative colitis (UC) by producing autoantibodies that cause epithelial cell damage. Here we report on a patient with intractable UC who suffered from a severe exacerbation of UC after salvage therapy with rituximab, a B-cell-depleting anti-CD20-antibody. Methods: A 58-year-old patient with active long-standing UC and unresponsiveness or adverse events to mesalamine, corticosteroids, azathioprine, methotrexate, infliximab, leukapheresis, mycophenolate mofetil, and adalimumab received 375 mg/m2 rituximab. Results: A severe exacerbation of UC activity was noted upon therapy that required hospitalization. Subsequent studie…
The Incidence of Myelofibrosis in Essential Thrombocythaemia, Polycythaemia vera and Chronic Idiopathic Myelofibrosis: A Retrospective Evaluation of Sequential Bone Marrow Biopsies
The incidence of myelofibrosis (MF) among the three major Philadelphia chromosome-negative chronic myeloproliferative disorders, i.e. essential thrombocythaemia (ET), polycythaemia vera (PV) and chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis (CIMF), is not well documented since the diagnostic criteria have recently been redefined by the WHO. Therefore we performed a retrospective analysis of follow-up biopsies of 275 patients with ET, PV and CIMF according to the WHO classification of chronic myeloproliferative disorders. In the diagnostic bone marrow biopsies, MF was observed in 57 of the 136 CIMF patients (42%), 4 of the 73 PV patients (5%) and none of the 66 patients with ET. Within a median observati…