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Background: The quality of vascular care has significantly improved in part by the expansion of endovascular techniques for the treatment of symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) in recent years. In Germany these are primarily provided by the three disciplines of vascular surgery, angiology, and interventional radiology (IR). However, the relative contribute of angiologists to the total number of cases performed is unknown. Patients and methods: In the present study, we analysed the respective contribution of vascular surgery, angiology, and IR to the delivery of endovascular revascularisations in symptomatic PAD in Germany based on the legally mandatory quality reports representative for the reporting year 2018. Results: Vascular surgery is the most common speciality reporting procedures in German hospitals (n=579; 25.1%), followed by IR (n=264; 11.5%), angiology (n=189; 8.2%) and cardiology (n=17; 0.7%). The combination of vascular surgery and IR was reported in 202 (8.8%), vascular surgery and angiology in 167 (7.2%) and angiology and IR in 65 (2.8%) hospitals, and 63 (2.7%) hospitals reported the combination of all three disciplines. Not every department performed catheter interventions. The analysis of procedures per centre revealed that angiology centres provided the highest numbers for both basic procedures and more complex techniques such as atherectomy, rotational thrombectomy, lithoplasty, selective thrombolysis or the use of re-entry devices. In total, angiology centres provided 24.4% of the total procedures or 23.9% of the so-called basic procedures as a surrogate for patient numbers. Conclusions: While each of the disciplines contribute significantly to the endovascular procedures, angiology centres perform more procedures per centre and more complex procedures than the other disciplines highlighting the important quantitative and qualitative contribution of angiology specialists to the care of vascular patients. The inpatient catheter interventional care of patients with PAD is still too rarely carried out in a multi-disciplinary manner in Germany.

We retrospectively analyzed patient records of all patients with a history of internal mammarian artery (IMA) coronary bypass undergoing coronary angiography at two cardiovascular centers between January 1st 1999 and December 31st 2019. A total of 11,929 coronary angiographies with or without percutaneous coronary intervention were carried out in 3921 patients. Our analysis revealed 82 (2%) patients with documented subclavian artery stenosis. Of these, 8 (10%) patients were classified as having mild, 18 (22%) moderate, and 56 (68%) severe subclavian artery stenosis. In 7 (9%) patients with subclavian artery stenosis, angiography revealed occlusion of the IMA graft. 26 (32%) patients with severe subclavian artery stenosis underwent endovascular or surgical revasculararization of the subclavian artery. In this retrospective multicenter study, subclavian artery stenosis was a relevant finding in patients with an internal mammarian artery coronary bypass graft undergoing coronary angiography. The development of dedicated algorithms for screening and ischemia evaluation in affected individuals may improve treatment of this potentially underdiagnosed and undertreated condition., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Endovascular arterial revascularisations for the treatment of symptomatic peripheral arterial disease are constantly increasing in importance and number due to the changing age structure and high numbers of comorbidities in the German population. Patients with peripheral artery disease are often at increased risk for peri- and post-procedural complications including severe cardiovascular events. Due to limited financial and human resources and considerable risks of hospitalization, endovascular interventions that were previously reserved for hospitalized patients are now progressively considered to be performed as day case procedures. More than one third of these procedures are performed in Germany by internists with a specialization in angiology. In the current position paper the German Society of Angiology endorsed by the European Society of Vascular Medicine, summarizes the requirements and risk factors to be considered for the planning, safe performance and post procedural care of endovascular revascularizations in outpatients. The performance of endovascular procedures for peripheral artery disease both in hospitalised and outpatients should be accompanied by a mandatory quality assurance process that should not only capture procedural data, but also require documentation of complications and longterm outcome.

Together with colleagues from different disciplines, including cardiologists, interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons, committee members of the of the German Society of Angiology ( Deutsche Gesellschaft für Angiologie [ DGA ]), developed a novel algorithm for the endovascular treatment of peripheral chronic total occlusive lesions (CTOs). Our aim is to improve patient and limb related outcomes, by increasing the success rate of endovascular procedures. This can be achieved by adherence to the proposed crossing algorithm, aiding the standardization of endovascular procedures. The following steps are proposed: (i) APPLY Duplex sonography and if required 3D techniques such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance angiography. This will help you to select the optimal access site. (ii) EVALUATE the CTO cap morphology and distal vessel refilling sites during diagnostic angiography, which are potential targets for a retrograde access. (iii) START with antegrade wiring strategies including guidewire (GW) and support catheter technology. Use GW escalation strategies to penetrate the proximal cap of the CTO, which may usually be fibrotic and calcified. (iv) STOP the antegrade attempt depending on patient specific parameters and the presence of retrograde options, as evaluated by pre-procedural imaging and during angiography. (v) In case of FAILURE, consider advanced bidirectional techniques and reentry devices. (vi) In case of SUCCESS, externalize the GW and treat the CTO. Manage the retrograde access at the end of the endovascular procedure. (vii) STOP the procedure if no progress can be obtained within 3 hours, in case of specific complications or when reaching maximum contrast administration based on individual patient's renal function. Consider radiation exposure both for patients and operators. In this manuscript we systematically follow and explain each of the steps (i)-(vi) based on practical examples from our daily routine. We strongly believe that the integration of this algorithm in the daily practice of endovascular specialists, can improve vessel and patient specific outcomes.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess 5-year effectiveness and safety of femoropopliteal angioplasty with the Luminor® 35 drug-coated balloon (DCB)., Materials and Methods: The EffPac trial was a prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial that enrolled 171 patients of Rutherford category 2 to 4 with medium length femoropopliteal lesions. Patients were allocated 1:1 to either Luminor® 35 DCB angioplasty or plain old balloon angioplasty (POBA). Assessment at 5 years included primary patency, freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR), clinical improvement, and target limb amputation. Long-term vital status was ascertained in 97.1% of the participants., Results: Kaplan-Meier curves at 5 years demonstrate a primary patency of 61.4% after DCB angioplasty and 53.5% after POBA (log-rank p = 0.040) with a decreasing difference throughout the observation period. Freedom from TLR was 82.1% and 73.7%, respectively (log-rank p = 0.050). Incidence of primary clinical improvement was similar between groups (61% DCB vs. 64% POBA, p = 0.94). Major target limb amputation was necessary in one POBA-group participant. Freedom from all-cause death at 5 years was 88.5% after DCB and 86.0% after POBA (log-rank p = 0.34)., Conclusions: Primary patency after femoropopliteal DCB angioplasty remained superior to POBA throughout 5 years, however, with decreasing difference. Clinical improvement, freedom from TLR, and all-cause mortality were similar between groups over the long term. (Effectiveness of Paclitaxel-Coated Luminor® Balloon Catheter Versus Uncoated Balloon Catheter in the Superficial Femoral Artery [EffPac]; NCT02540018)., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies have consistently shown increased efficacy when added to standard of care for patients with multiple myeloma. We aimed to assess the efficacy of isatuximab in addition to lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone in patients with newly diagnosed transplantation-eligible multiple myeloma., Methods: This open-label, multicentre, randomised, active-controlled, phase 3 trial was done at 67 academic and oncology practice centres in Germany. This study is ongoing and divided into two parts; herein, we report results from part 1. Eligible patients were aged 18-70 years; had a confirmed diagnosis of untreated multiple myeloma requiring systemic treatment and a WHO performance status of 0-2; and were eligible for induction therapy, high-dose melphalan and autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and maintenance treatment. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive three 42-day cycles of induction therapy either with isatuximab plus lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (isatuximab group) or lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone alone (control group) using a web-based system and permuted blocks. Patients in both groups received lenalidomide (25 mg orally on days 1-14 and 22-35), bortezomib (1·3 mg/m 2 subcutaneously on days 1, 4, 8, 11, 22, 25, 29, and 32), and dexamethasone (20 mg orally on days 1-2, 4-5, 8-9, 11-12, 15, 22-23, 25-26, 29-30, and 32-33). Isatuximab was given as 10 mg/kg intravenously on days 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 of cycle 1 and on days 1, 15, and 29 of cycles 2 and 3. The primary endpoint was minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity assessed by flow cytometry, in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03617731., Findings: Between Oct 23, 2018, and Sep 22, 2020, 660 patients were included in the ITT analysis (331 in the isatuximab group and 329 in the control group). 654 (99%) patients were White, two were African, one was Arabic, and three were Asian. 250 (38%) were women and 410 (62%) were men. The median age was 59 years (IQR 54-64). MRD negativity after induction therapy was reached in 166 (50%) patients in the isatuximab group versus 117 (36%) in the control group (OR 1·82 [95% CI 1·33-2·48]; p=0·00017). Median follow-up time from start to end of induction therapy was 125 days (IQR 125-131) versus 125 days (125-132). At least one grade 3 or 4 adverse event occurred in 208 (63%) of 330 patients versus 199 (61%) of 328 patients. Neutropenia of grade 3 or 4 occurred in 77 (23%) versus 23 (7%) patients and infections of grade 3 or 4 occurred in 40 (12%) versus 32 (10%) patients. Among 12 deaths during induction therapy, one death due to septic shock in the isatuximab group and four deaths (one cardiac decompensation, one hepatic and renal failure, one cardiac arrest, and one drug-induced enteritis) in the control group were considered treatment-related., Interpretation: Addition of isatuximab to lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone for induction therapy improved rates of MRD negativity with no new safety signals in patients with newly diagnosed transplantation-eligible multiple myeloma., Funding: Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene)., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests HG reports financial and trial medication support for this GMMG-HD7 trial from Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi; consulting from Adaptive Biotechnology, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Janssen; honoraria from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Chugai, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, and Novartis; research funding from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Chugai, Incyte, Janssen, Molecular Partner, MSD, Mundipharma, and Novartis; grants from Amgen, Celgene, Chugai, Janssen, and Johns Hopkins University. EKM reports consulting or advisory role, honoraria, research funding, travel accommodation, and expenses from Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene), GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Sanofi, Stemline, and Takeda. RF reports consulting or advisory role, honoraria, travel accommodation, and expenses from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene), GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, and Takeda. BB reports honoraria from Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Sanofi, and Takeda; and travel accommodation, and expanses from Janssen. JD reports honoraria from Celgene, Janssen, and Roche; advisory role, travel accommodation, and expenses from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, and Takeda; and speakers bureau from Celgene and Janssen. RS reports consulting for Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead (Kite), Janssen, and Novartis; and honoraria from Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead (Kite), Janssen, Roche, and Sanofi. IvM reports consulting for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda; honoraria from Sanofi; and travel accommodation and expenses from Takeda. MHa reports consulting for Amgen, Bayer Vital, Celgene, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda; and honoraria from Novartis. CM reports consulting for Celgene. AMA reports honoraria from Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene), GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer. BH reports consulting for Sanofi-Aventis. NW reports an advisory role for Glaxo Smith Kline; and research Funding from Bristol Myers Squibb. KK reports honoraria from Sanofi. TAWH reports a consulting or advisory role for Celgene, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and Sanofi; speakers bureau for Amgen and MSD; and travel accommodation and expenses from AbbVie, Daiichi Sankyo, Eurocept Pharmaceuticals, Janssen, Medac, and Therakos. KT-G reports consulting, an advisory role, honoraria, travel accommodation, and expenses from GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Takeda. DG reports consulting and honoraria from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, and Takeda. MK-H reports honoraria from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen-Cilag, Roche, and Takeda; and an advisory role for Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, and Sanofi. CK reports honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda; and research funding from AstraZeneca and Sanofi. WK reports consulting for AstraZeneca, BeiGene, and Janssen; honoraria from AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, and Sanofi. CS reports honoraria from AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Glaxo Smith Kline, Janssen, Pfizer, Oncopeptides, Sanofi, and Takeda; travel accommodation and expanses from Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Novartis, and Takeda; and research funding from Janssen, Novartis, and Takeda. MMun reports consulting for AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Glaxo Smith Kline, Janssen, Sanofi, and Takeda; honoraria from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, and Takeda; research funding from Incyte; and travel accommodation and expenses from Amgen. MHo reports consulting for Sanofi-Aventis. MSR reports consulting or an advisory role for AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi; honoraria from AbbVie and GlaxoSmithKline; and research funding from Novartis and Sanofi. HJS reports honoraria and an advisory role from AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene), Chugai, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, Oncopeptides, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Sebia, TAD Pharma, and Takeda; travel accommodation and expenses from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb (Celgene), GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-Cilag, and Sanofi. KCW reports consulting for AbbVie, Adaptive Biotech, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Karyopharm, Novartis, Oncopeptides, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Stemline, and Takeda; honoraria from AbbVie, Adaptive Biotech, Amgen, AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Karyopharm, Novartis, Oncopeptides, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Stemline, and Takeda; research funding from Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Glaxo Smith Kline, Janssen, and Sanofi; travel accommodation and expenses from AbbVie, Adaptive Biotech, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Glaxo Smith Kline, Karyopharm, Oncopeptides, Roche, Sanofi, Stemline, and Takeda. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background : The search for an optimal interventional treatment strategy in infrapopliteal peripheral artery disease remains in the focus of interest. Whether drug-coated balloons (DCB) might enhance interventional outcomes after crural interventions is a matter of debate, as studies yielded conflicting results on DCB safety and efficacy. Patients and methods : We analyzed a retrospective cohort of 75 infrapopliteal DCB interventions performed at our institution in 68 patients with peripheral artery disease in Rutherford category 3 to 6. Results : Despite a high rate of long complex lesions and multi-vessel disease, freedom from clinically driven target lesions revascularization (TLR) after 365 days was 68%. After six months, healing or significant improvement of the ischemic ulcer was observed in 78% of cases. Accordingly, freedom from major amputation and death after 365 days was 82%. Freedom from major amputation and death was 76.2% of cases in patients with diabetes mellitus as opposed to 91.5% in patients without diabetes mellitus (p=0.049). Conclusions : With this real-world analysis we would like to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the benefit and safety of DCB treatment in below-the-knee interventions.

Aims: In peripheral artery disease (PAD), endovascular treatment success of heavily calcified lesions is often compromised by a number of vascular complications, such as recoils, dissections and need for target vessel re-interventions. The increasing use of scoring balloon techniques has raised the hope for better periprocedural outcomes; however, the knowledge regarding the actual benefits of the scoring balloon technique in comparison to standard therapy is still limited. Thus, the aim of the current study was to determine the safety and effectiveness of scoring balloon angioplasty in a real-life patients' collective with PAD., Methods and Results: A total of 425 patients with moderate to severely calcified femoropopliteal lesions received interventional treatment between 2011 and 2018 at the single center; 230 received a treatment with a scoring balloon (AngioSculpt™), and 195 received a plain procedure without AngioSculpt™. Key questions of this analysis were: (1) whether AngioSculpt™ can be used as a safe and effective stand-alone treatment in heavily calcified lesions in a 24-month follow-up, as well as (2) whether target lesion preparation with scoring balloon bears additional benefits to standard treatment (PTA ± stent implantation). In terms of freedom from target lesion revascularization there were no significant differences between AngioSculpt™ and standard procedure (82.3% vs. 78.1%, P > 0.05). Vessel preparation with balloon angioplasty had no additional effects on survival and amputation rates in comparison to standard treatment without AngioSculpt™ (P > 0.05). The deployment of a scoring balloon did not reduce the subsequent need for additional stent implantations (32.6%, and 32.3%, P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Lesion preparation with AngioSculpt™ scoring balloon represents a safe and effective tool in the treatment of complex femoropopliteal lesions. In this retrospective analysis, AngioSculpt™ scoring balloon angioplasty did not significantly improve vessel patency- both when used as an adjunctive in preparation for stenting and as stand-alone treatment. A prospective study is needed to further investigate the scoring balloon treatment options.

HLA-DPB1 antigens are mismatched in about 80% of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations from HLA 10/10 matched unrelated donors and were shown to be associated with a decreased risk of leukemia relapse. We recently developed a reliable in vitro method to generate HLA-DPB1 mismatch-reactive CD4 T-cell clones from allogeneic donors. Here, we isolated HLA-DPB1 specific T cell receptors (TCR DP) and used them either as wild-type or genetically optimized receptors to analyze in detail the reactivity of transduced CD4 and CD8 T cells toward primary AML blasts. While both CD4 and CD8 T cells showed strong AML reactivity in vitro, only CD4 T cells were able to effectively eliminate leukemia blasts in AML engrafted NOD/SCID/IL2Rγc -/- (NSG) mice. Further analysis showed that optimized TCR DP and under some conditions wild-type TCR DP also mediated reactivity to non-hematopoietic cells like fibroblasts or tumor cell lines after HLA-DP upregulation. In conclusion, T cells engineered with selected allo-HLA-DPB1 specific TCRs might be powerful off-the-shelf reagents in allogeneic T-cell therapy of leukemia. However, because of frequent (common) cross-reactivity to non-hematopoietic cells with optimized TCR DP T cells, safety mechanisms are mandatory.

Background Paclitaxel drug-coated balloon (DCB) catheter angioplasty is the preferred treatment for revascularization of femoropopliteal lesions in peripheral artery disease, but mortality is a safety concern. Purpose To assess 2-year efficacy and safety of DCB angioplasty compared with conventional balloon angioplasty (also known as plain old balloon angioplasty or POBA). Materials and Methods This prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial enrolled consecutive participants with symptomatic superficial femoral and/or popliteal artery disease at 11 German centers between September 2015 and December 2016. Participants underwent DCB angioplasty or conventional balloon angioplasty. Primary outcome of 6-month late lumen loss showed superiority of DCB angioplasty over conventional balloon angioplasty. Evaluation at 2 years included secondary outcomes of primary patency and target lesion revascularization (TLR) estimated with Kaplan-Meier analysis, clinical and hemodynamic improvement, quality of life, target limb amputation, and all-cause mortality. Results A total of 171 participants (mean age, 69 years ± 8; 111 men) were evaluated. At 2 years, primary patency was achieved in 90.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 80.4%, 95.2%) of DCB angioplasty and 62.7% (95% CI: 50.0%, 73.0%) of conventional balloon angioplasty participants ( P < .001). Freedom from TLR occurred in 97.2% (95% CI: 89.1%, 99.3%) of DCB angioplasty and 78% (95% CI: 66.5%, 86.0%) of conventional balloon angioplasty participants ( P = .001). The groups did not differ in sustained improvement from baseline to 2 years in Rutherford-Becker category (row mean scores difference, 1.7; P = .19) and showed no difference in mean improvement in the Walking Impairment Questionnaire score (-0.8%; 95% CI: -11.8%, 10.2%; P = .88), EuroQol Group's five-dimension index of quality of life (-0.06; 95% CI: -0.17, 0.03; P = .20), or ankle-brachial index (0.03; 95% CI: -0.08, 0.14; P = .57). No major amputation was necessary. One DCB angioplasty and two conventional balloon angioplasty participants died (risk ratio, 0.48; 95% CI: 0.04, 5.10). Conclusion At 2 years after paclitaxel drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty, primary patency and freedom from target lesion revascularization remained superior compared with conventional balloon angioplasty. DCB angioplasty resulted in sustained clinical and hemodynamic improvement with no increased risk of mortality. © RSNA, 2020 Online supplemental material in available for this article.

Background: To assess the impact of short- vs. long-term anticoagulation in addition to standard dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) upon endovascular treatment of (sub)acute thrombembolic occlusions of the lower extremity. Patient and methods: Retrospective analysis was conducted on 202 patients with a thrombembolic occlusion of lower extremities, followed by crirical limb ischemia that received endovascular treatment including thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy, or a combination of both between 2006 and 2015 at a single center. Following antithrombotic regimes were compared: 1) dual antiplatelet therapy, DAPT for 4 weeks (aspirin 100 mg/d and clopidogrel 75 mg/d) upon intervention, followed by a lifelong single antiplatelet therapy; 2) DAPT plus short term anticoagulation for 4 weeks, followed by a lifelong single antiplatelet therapy; 3) DAPT plus long term anticoagulation for > 4 weeks, followed by a lifelong anticoagulation. Results: Endovascular treatment was associated with high immediate revascularization (> 98 %), as well as overall and amputation-free survival rates (> 85 %), independent from the chosen anticoagulation regime in a two-year follow up, p > 0.05. Anticoagulation in addition to standard antiplatelet therapy had no significant effect on patency or freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR) 24 months upon index procedure for both thrombotic and embolic occlusions. Severe bleeding complications occurred more often in the long-term anticoagulation group (9.3 % vs. 5.6 % (short-term group) and 6.5 % (DAPT group), p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our observational study demonstrates that the choice of an antithrombotic regime had no impact on the long-term follow-up after endovascular treatment of acute thrombembolic limb ischemia whereas prolonged anticoagulation was associated with a nominal increase in severe bleeding complications.

Effective and tolerable salvage therapies for elderly patients with chemorefractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are limited and usually do not change the poor clinical outcome. We recently described in several chemorefractory elderly AML patients that a novel biomodulatory treatment regimen consisting of low-dose azacitidine (AZA) in combination with PPARγ agonist pioglitazone (PGZ) and all- trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induced complete remission of leukemia and also triggered myeloid differentiation with rapid increase of peripheral blood neutrophils. Herein, we further investigated our observations and comprehensively analyzed cell differentiation in primary AML blasts after treatment with ATRA, AZA, and PGZ ex vivo . The drug combination was found to significantly inhibit cell growth as well as to induce cell differentiation in about half of primary AML blasts samples independent of leukemia subtype. Notably and in comparison to ATRA/AZA/PGZ triple-treatment, effects on cell growth and myeloid differentiation with ATRA monotherapy was much less efficient. Morphological signs of myeloid cell differentiation were further confirmed on a functional basis by demonstrating increased production of reactive oxygen species as well as enhanced phagocytic activity in AML blasts treated with ATRA/AZA/PGZ. In conclusion, we show that biomodulatory treatment with ATRA/AZA/PGZ can induce phenotypical and functional differentiation of primary AML blasts into neutrophil like cells, which aside from its antileukemic activity may lower neutropenia associated infection rates in elderly AML patients in vivo . Clinical impact of the ATRA/AZA/PGZ treatment regimen is currently further investigated in a randomized clinical trial in chemorefractory AML patients (NCT02942758).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160871.].

Background: This retrospective, multicenter study aimed to reveal risk predictors for mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) as well as survival after ICU discharge in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) requiring treatment in the ICU., Methods and Results: Multivariate analysis of data for 187 adults with AML treated in the ICU in one institution revealed the following as independent prognostic factors for death in the ICU: arterial oxygen partial pressure below 72 mmHg, active AML and systemic inflammatory response syndrome upon ICU admission, and need for hemodialysis and mechanical ventilation in the ICU. Based on these variables, we developed an ICU mortality score and validated the score in an independent cohort of 264 patients treated in the ICU in three additional tertiary hospitals. Compared with the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II, the Logistic Organ Dysfunction (LOD) score, and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, our score yielded a better prediction of ICU mortality in the receiver operator characteristics (ROC) analysis (AUC = 0.913 vs. AUC = 0.710 [SAPS II], AUC = 0.708 [LOD], and 0.770 [SOFA] in the training cohort; AUC = 0.841 for the developed score vs. AUC = 0.730 [SAPSII], AUC = 0.773 [LOD], and 0.783 [SOFA] in the validation cohort). Factors predicting decreased survival after ICU discharge were as follows: relapse or refractory disease, previous allogeneic stem cell transplantation, time between hospital admission and ICU admission, time spent in ICU, impaired diuresis, Glasgow Coma Scale <8 and hematocrit of ≥25% at ICU admission. Based on these factors, an ICU survival score was created and used for risk stratification into three risk groups. This stratification discriminated distinct survival rates after ICU discharge., Conclusions: Our data emphasize that although individual risks differ widely depending on the patient and disease status, a substantial portion of critically ill patients with AML benefit from intensive care., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Lymphoid enhancer-binding factor-1 (LEF1) is a key transcription factor of Wnt signaling. We recently showed that aberrant LEF1 expression induces acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in mice, and found high LEF1 expression in a subset of cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML) patients. Whether LEF1 expression associates with clinical and molecular patient characteristics and treatment outcomes remained unknown. We therefore studied LEF1 expression in 210 adults with CN-AML treated on German AML Cooperative Group trials using microarrays. High LEF1 expression (LEF1high) associated with significantly better relapse-free survival (RFS; P < .001), overall survival (OS; P < .001), and event-free survival (EFS; P < .001). In multivariable analyses adjusting for established prognosticators, LEF1high status remained associated with prolonged RFS (P = .007), OS (P = .01), and EFS (P = .003). In an independent validation cohort of 196 CN-AML patients provided by the German-Austrian AML Study Group, LEF1high patients had significantly longer OS (P = .02) and EFS (P = .04). We validated the prognostic relevance of LEF1 expression by quantitative PCR, thereby providing a clinically applicable platform to incorporate this marker into future risk-stratification systems for CN-AML. Gene-expression profiling and immunophenotyping revealed up-regulation of lymphopoiesis-related genes and lymphoid cell-surface antigens in LEF1high patients. In summary, we provide evidence that high LEF1 expression is a novel favorable prognostic marker in CN-AML.

Project Description: The Palliative Home Care Team of the InterdisciplinaryCenterfor Palliative Medicine at Munich University Hospital has been providing Specialized Home Palliative Care (German abbreviation: SAPV) according to the new German regulations since October 2009., Results: Out of 267 requests, 178 patients were accepted for SAPV, 33 thereof at the level of care coordination and 140 as partial or total home palliative care including 24-h, 7/7 on-call duty. Of the latter group, 90 died at home, 19 in a palliative care unit or hospice and one on a hospital ward.The place of death corresponded to the patients' wishes in 98% of cases. Altogether, emergency medical services other than the SAPV team were called upon in 7 cases, and 12 patients were admitted to a general hospital ward. More than a quarter of our patients had non-oncological diagnoses.The proportion of work dealing with family members (21%) was higher than the patient-related one (19%). The highest percentage (37%) represented office work., Conclusions: The requirement for SAPV in the urban setting is high, in spite of the intensive primary care, with an increasing proportion of non-oncological patients. A key aspect concerns the work with family members. SAPV can minimize the number of hospital admissions and emergency calls. The patient's wishes concerning the place of death can be fulfilled. Feed-back from patients and family members indicates that SAPV makes an important contribution towards removing the taboo associated with death and dying.

Recent data indicate that a variety of regulatory molecules active in embryonic development may also play a role in the regulation of early hematopoiesis. Here we report that the human Vent-like homeobox gene VENTX, a putative homolog of the Xenopus xvent2 gene, is a unique regulatory hematopoietic gene that is aberrantly expressed in CD34(+) leukemic stem-cell candidates in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Quantitative RT-PCR documented expression of the gene in lineage positive hematopoietic subpopulations, with the highest expression in CD33(+) myeloid cells. Notably, expression levels of VENTX were negligible in normal CD34(+)/CD38(-) or CD34(+) human progenitor cells. In contrast to this, leukemic CD34(+)/CD38(-) cells from AML patients with translocation t(8,21) and normal karyotype displayed aberrantly high expression of VENTX. Gene expression and pathway analysis demonstrated that in normal CD34(+) cells enforced expression of VENTX initiates genes associated with myeloid development and down-regulates genes involved in early lymphoid development. Functional analyses confirmed that aberrant expression of VENTX in normal CD34(+) human progenitor cells perturbs normal hematopoietic development, promoting generation of myeloid cells and impairing generation of lymphoid cells in vitro and in vivo. Stable knockdown of VENTX expression inhibited the proliferation of human AML cell lines. Taken together, these data extend our insights into the function of embryonic mesodermal factors in human postnatal hematopoiesis and indicate a role for VENTX in normal and malignant myelopoiesis.

Identification of numerous criteria important in the pathogenesis, biology, prognosis and treatment of the different types of leukemia necessitates a broad spectrum of diagnostic methods for the initial diagnosis and in the further course of the disease. In addition to cytomorphology with cytochemistry, which is been path-breaking for the application of further diagnostic methods, cytogenetics has become an obligatory diagnostic tool. Immunophenotyping and, even more relevant, molecular genetics plays an important role. Other diagnostic techniques are widely developed. The diagnostic procedures are described, with a focus on their mode of operation as well as their clinical significance. Because of their high clinical relevance and growing complexity, the diagnosis of leukemias should be performed in specialized laboratories.

Canonical Wnt signaling is critically involved in normal hematopoietic development and the self-renewal process of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Deregulation of this pathway has been linked to a large variety of cancers, including different subtypes of leukemia. Lef-1 is a major transcription factor of this pathway and plays a pivotal role in lymphoid differentiation as well as in granulopoiesis. Here, we demonstrate Lef-1 expression in murine HSCs as well as its expression in human leukemia. Mice transplanted with bone marrow retrovirally transduced to express Lef-1 or a constitutive active Lef-1 mutant showed a severe disturbance of normal hematopoietic differentiation and finally developed B lymphoblastic and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Lef-1-induced AMLs were characterized by immunoglobulin (Ig) DH-JH rearrangements and a promiscuous expression of lymphoid and myeloid regulatory factors. Furthermore, single cell experiments and limiting dilution transplantation assays demonstrated that Lef-1-induced AML was propagated by a leukemic stem cell with lymphoid characteristics displaying Ig DH-JH rearrangements and a B220(+) myeloid marker(-) immunophenotype. These data indicate a thus far unknown role of Lef-1 in the biology of acute leukemia, pointing to the necessity of balanced Lef-1 expression for an ordered hematopoietic development.

The mechanisms underlying deregulation of HOX gene expression in AML are poorly understood. The ParaHox gene CDX2 was shown to act as positive upstream regulator of several HOX genes. In this study, constitutive expression of Cdx2 caused perturbation of leukemogenic Hox genes such as Hoxa10 and Hoxb8 in murine hematopoietic progenitors. Deletion of the N-terminal domain of Cdx2 abrogated its ability to perturb Hox gene expression and to cause acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in mice. In contrast inactivation of the putative Pbx interacting site of Cdx2 did not change the leukemogenic potential of the gene. In an analysis of 115 patients with AML, expression levels of CDX2 were closely correlated with deregulated HOX gene expression. Patients with normal karyotype showed a 14-fold higher expression of CDX2 and deregulated HOX gene expression compared with patients with chromosomal translocations such as t(8:21) or t(15;17). All patients with AML with normal karyotype tested were negative for CDX1 and CDX4 expression. These data link the leukemogenic potential of Cdx2 to its ability to dysregulate Hox genes. They furthermore correlate the level of CDX2 expression with HOX gene expression in human AML and support a potential role of CDX2 in the development of human AML with aberrant Hox gene expression.

Diagnostics: The continuously growing knowledge about criteria important for biology, pathogenesis, prognosis and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) necessitates a broad spectrum of diagnostic methods for first diagnosis and for the further course of the disease. Relevant diagnostic techniques (cytomorphology with cytochemistry, immunophenotyping, cytogenetics and molecular genetics, DNA array) are described - with a focus on their mode of operation as well on their clinical significance. Due to the high clinical relevance and growing complexity, AML diagnostics should be performed in specialized laboratories., Classification: Compared to the FAB classification which is based primarily on morphological criteria, the classification recommended in 2001 by the WHO additionally takes cytogenetics, molecular genetics and further clinical factors into consideration. Both classifications are described., Prognostic Criteria: A wide range of prognostic criteria of AML is discussed on the basis of currently available clinical data. The most important criteria are the karyotype of the leukemic clone and the patient's age.

New methods are described that allow the selective isolation of venular endothelial cells and their cultivation on porous filters to confluent monolayers. These filters with the attached endothelial cell layer can be mounted in a specially adapted apparatus allowing not only blood filtration studies, but now also the continuous registration of hydraulic conductivity (Lp) of tissue layers. This preparation responds dramatically to certain release products from simultaneously activated blood platelets and polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMN) with a rise in Lp that, in situ, would lead rapidly to local oedema, arteriolar constriction and venular thrombosis. Selectively activated PMN alone induced only a modest increase in endothelial Lp that could be prevented by uric acid, an antioxidant. ASA prevented the activation of the blood cells, but not the effect of the release products per se, implying that the release products are probably eicosanoids. A standardized extract from red vine leaves (AS 195, active ingredient of Antistax Venenkapseln), containing in particular the flavonoids quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucuronide and isoquercitrin (quercetin-3-O-beta-D-glucoside), not only prevented the deleterious effect of the release products on the venular endothelial monolayers but, applied promptly to an endothelium damaged by prior exposure to these release products, resulted in the repair of the endothelium. These findings identify for the first time the venular endothelium as a possible important therapeutic target in certain vascular diseases, chronic venous insufficiency being perhaps the most prominent example.

There have been descriptions of corpuscular structures in the human skin since the turn of the century. These bodies 3-20 micron in size are situated in the zone connecting the epidermis and corium. They can be readily visualized with resorcinol-fuchsin staining according to Weigert and are regarded as morphological variants of the elastic fiber system. According to the investigations we have carried out so far on the skin of babies, infants and adults, these elastic globes exhibit the following distribution pattern: abundant occurrence on the limbs, only scanty occurrence on the trunk and the hands. With increasing age, a numerical increase of elastic globes can be demonstrated in babies and in infants. In adults, there is an opposite tendency in the hands and feet. Here, the frequency of elastic globes decreases with increasing age. To clarify the question as to whether precursors of elastic globes are present, the skin of 35 embryos and fetuses was systematically examined for their occurrence and the results of the investigation are discussed.