In 2001-2002 period, at the Hospital of Hemotology and Blood Transfusion of Ho Chi Minh, a cross-sectioncal analytic descriptive study was carried out covering 92 cases thrombocyte transfusion for 67 patients with acute myoblastic and lymphoblastic leucemia. The results were analogue with those obstained by foreign authors concerning the indices of assessment of the efficacy of thrombocyte transfusion. The number of thrombocytes in a condensed unit of blood plaquettes obtained on the apparatus of extraction and isolation in comparing with body weight of Viet Nam subject had created optimal doses of thrombocyte transfusion in patients without associated factors increasing the consumption of blood plaquettes and these are the doses possibly attained in Vietnamese blood donor
Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute ; Platelet Transfusion ; Blood

The expression of the WT-1 gene which is found exclusively in human leukemic blasts frequently disappears from bone marrow of leukemia patients in complete remission (CR). Using semiquantitative RT-PCR, we investigated the expression of the WT-1 gene in peripheral bloods (PBs) of 33 patients with acute leukemia (AML 26; ALL 7) and monitored its expression after achievement of CR. None of the 6 normal controls expressed detectable levels of WT-1 transcripts (< 10(-4), background level), whereas 31 (93.9%) of 33 patients expressed variable levels of WT-1 transcripts (range, 10(-4) to 10(1)) at diagnosis. The level of WT-1 expression was not different between AML and ALL. By monitoring WT-1 gene expression in PB of 31 patients during CR, 5 patients relapsed (two from the 18 patients with undetectable levels of WT-1 gene expression and three from the 13 with WT-1 gene expression in low levels). Three of the 5 relapsed patients showed preceding reappearance or rise of WT-1 gene expression. From these results, we reconfirmed that the WT-1 gene is a pan-acute leukemic marker, which can be used to monitor minimal residual leukemia (MRL) after chemotherapy or in patients with CR.
Gene Expression/physiology* ; Human ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/genetics* ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/blood* ; Leukemia, Myelocytic, Acute/genetics* ; Leukemia, Myelocytic, Acute/blood* ; Neoplasm, Residual ; Nephroblastoma/genetics* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transcription, Genetic ; Tumor Markers, Biological

We report five cases of cytomegalovirus infection in immunocompromised patients which were detected by either cytomegalovirus antigenemia assay or in situ hybridization. Four cases had leukemia and the other had chronic renal failure. All the three BMT recipients suffered from GvHD. Interestingly, there was an unique case of CMV disease without a history of BMT, which reminded us that CMV could attack immunocompromised patients who had not undergone transplantation, too. Four out of five cases died. We think that cytomegalovirus infection or disease should not be regarded as a minor problem in post-transplantation infection in Korea.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Antigens, Viral/*blood ; *Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Case Report ; Cytomegalovirus/*immunology ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/complications/*diagnosis ; Fatal Outcome ; Graft vs Host Disease/complications ; Human ; Immunocompromised Host ; In Situ Hybridization ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/complications ; Kidney Transplantation ; Leukemia/*complications/therapy ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute, L2/complications/therapy ; Leukemia, Myelocytic, Acute/complications/therapy ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Chronic/complications/therapy ; Male ; Viremia/*diagnosis