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Introduction: In many countries, there is a shift from standard half‐life (SHL) to extended half‐life (EHL) clotting factor concentrates (CFCs). Aim: To describe the experience of switching from SHL to an EHL FVIII CFC and the impact of this on frequency of infusions, factor consumption, bleeding rates and HRQoL using the Canadian Hemophilia Kids' Life Assessment Tool (CHO‐KLAT). Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at a single haemophilia treatment centre in 2018 that included boys (ages: 4‐18 years) with moderate/severe haemophilia A, without inhibitors, who switched from a SHL to an EHL FVIII CFC in the previous 2 years and for whom HRQoL data were available. Results: The study cohort comprised 38 boys [mean (SD) age: 11.0 (3.4) years] with moderate (n = 5)/severe (n = 33) haemophilia A. The switch was associated with a 33% reduction in the number of weekly infusions from a median of 3.5 to 2.3 (P <.0001) and a 17% reduction in median FVIII consumption from 103 IU/kg/wk to 85.5 IU/kg/wk (P =.004). There was no significant change in annualized joint bleed rates or in CHO‐KLAT scores. Conclusions: Despite documenting several benefits of switching to EHL FVIII (less infusions, lower factor consumption with no increase in bleeding), our study did not demonstrate any improvement in HRQoL. We conclude that either the current CHO‐KLAT tool is not optimized to measure burden of treatment administration in boys with low bleed rates switching from SHL to EHL FVIII CFCs or that a reduction of 1.2 infusions/week does not result in a meaningful change in HRQoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with asplenia or hyposplenia are at risk of developing overwhelming sepsis. Health care providers caring for children with asplenia should ensure the best outcomes by using preventive strategies that focus on parent and patient education, immunization, antibiotic prophylaxis and aggressive management of suspected infection. The present position statement offers current guidance on each of these issues and replaces a previous CPS statement, 'Prevention and therapy of bacterial infections for children with asplenia or hyposplenia', published in 1999. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advances in pediatric tertiary care have resulted in a decrease in the mortality of children with serious underlying conditions. Consequently, there has been an increase in previously rare complications of therapy in children, including venous thrombosis. Although there is a paucity of properly designed trials in the field of pediatric thrombosis, many advances have been made over the past 15 years. Venous thrombosis in children has been the subject of many reviews. This review is an update of the available evidence in the management of venous thrombosis in children, excluding thrombosis of the CNS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]