Mohammad Taghi Arzanian's research while affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and other places

Background: Activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase δ syndrome (APDS) is a recently defined combined primary immunodeficiency disease (PID) characterized by recurrent respiratory tract infections, lymphoproliferation, autoimmunity and lymphoma. Gain-of-function mutations in PIK3CD and loss-of-function of PIK3R1 genes lead to APDS1 and APDS2, respectively. Methods: Demographic, clinical, immunological and genetic data were collected from medical records of 15 pediatric patients, who were genetically identified using the whole-exome sequencing method. Results: Fifteen patients (6 APDS1 and 9 APDS2) were enrolled in this study. Recurrent respiratory tract infections followed by lymphoproliferation and autoimmunity were the most common manifestations (86.7%, 53.3% and 26.7%, respectively). Five patients (33.3%) had a Hyper-IgM-syndrome-like immunoglobulin profile. In the APDS1 group, splice site and missense mutations were found in half of the patients and the C-lobe domain of PIK3CD was the most affected region (50%). In the APDS2 group, splice site mutation was the most frequent mutation (77.8%) and the inter-SH2 domain was the most affected region of PIK3R1 (66.7%). Mortality rate was significantly higher in APDS2 group (P = .02) mainly due to chronic lung infections. Conclusion: Respiratory tract infections and humoral immunodeficiency are commonly the most important complication in pediatric APDS patients, and they can be fatal by ultimately causing catastrophic damage to the structure of lungs. Hence, physicians should be aware of its significance and further work-up of patients with recurrent respiratory tract infections especially in patients with lymphoproliferation. Moreover, delineation of genotype-phenotype associations with disease severity could be helpful in the timely application of appropriate management and patients’ survival.

LPS-responsive beige-like anchor protein (LRBA) deficiency is a monogenic primary immunodeficiency characterized by a heterogeneous spectrum of clinical manifestations associated with immune dysregulation. In this study, we reported clinical, immunologic, and genetic evaluation of two Iranian patients from unrelated families, both suffering from recurrent respiratory tract infections, failure to thrive, interstitial lung disease, autoimmune cytopenia, and hypogammaglobulinemia. Pulmonary abscess in one patient and persistent enteropathy in another were also observed. Further investigations revealed causative mutations in the exon (c.2166_2766del) and intron (c.4730-3T>G) of the LRBA gene. These results may provide further elucidation of the clinical phenotypes and responsible genetic factors of LRBA deficiency.

Treatment with intensification of chemotherapy using alkylating agents and Topoisomerase II inhibitors and radiotherapy has improved the outcome of patients with solid tumors such as Ewing’s sarcoma. However, there are several reports of secondary malignancy following treatment of these tumors. In this article, we describe a 12 years old girl with ALL who had Ewing’s sarcoma when she was 8 years old and underwent successful treatment but after two and half years at 12 years old, she came back with pallor and muscular pain.

Hereditary thrombocytopenias are rare bleeding disorders, which cause a deficiency of platelets in early infancy. This group of disorders is sometimes associated with abnormal phenotypes, like absence of radius. Diagnosis of this type of thrombocytopenia is usually difficult; other causes of thrombocytopenia, such as immune disorders and infections, must be ruled out. The symptoms of hereditary thrombocytopenia also vary from seldom and mild to severe bleeding and occasionally may first occur in late childhood. In this group of patients, we must differentiate heritable disorders from the acquired types of thrombocytopenia, like immune thrombocytopenic purpura. It is also important to watch for pitfalls to avoid unnecessary and potentially hazardous treatment. Herein, we briefly review the recent literature on hereditary thrombocytopenia and then present the cases of two referred patients. The first case had suffered from persistent thrombocytopenia since early infancy and was diagnosed with congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia, while the other patient presented with Wiskott - Aldrich syndrome.

Human parvovirus (HPV) B19 induced aplastic crisis in a family leading to the diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis (HS) is a very rare condition being barely reported in the literature. We herein report a 4-year-old girl, her brother, and their mother who all presented with progressive pallor and jaundice after a febrile illness. The HPV B19 was diagnosed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and positive serology for specific anti-HPV B19 IgM. They were further diagnosed with having HS. The clinical importance of this report is that in the case of an abrupt onset of unexplained severe anemia and jaundice, one should consider underlying hemolytic anemias mostly hereditary spherocytosis complicated by HPV B19 aplastic crisis. Herein, we report the occurrence of this condition, simultaneously in three members of a family. The distinguished feature of this report is that all affected family members developed some degrees of transient pancytopenia, not only anemia, all simultaneously in the course of their disease.

Introduction : Ewing’s sarcoma is the second most common primary malignant tumor of bone found in children after Osteosarcoma. It accounts for 4–9% of primary malignant bone tumors and it affects bones of the skull or face in only 1–4% of cases. Hence it rarely affects the head and neck. Subject and Method : In this case report, we describe a case of primary Ewing's sarcoma occurring in the temporal bone. The tumor was surgically excised, and the patient underwent chemotherapy for ten months. Results : Neither recurrence nor distant metastasis was noted in these 10 months after surgery but about 18 months after surgery our patient was expired. Conclusion : Although the prognosis of Ewing's sarcoma is generally poor because of early metastasis to the lungs and to other bones, a review of the article suggested that Ewing’s sarcoma occurring in the skull can often be successfully managed by intensive therapy with radical excision and chemotherapy. This result was supported by the case reported here.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare, locally aggressive vascular tumor of intermediate malignancy with resemblance to Kaposi sarcoma. It occurs predominantly in pediatric age groups as a cutaneous lesion with focal infiltration into the adjacent soft tissue and bone. Although visceral involvement is very uncommon, several cases with bone, retroperitoneal, or mediastinal involvement have been described. KHE has been reported to occasionally occur in unusual sites such as the thymus, tonsils, larynx, paranasal sinuses, deltoid muscle, spleen, uterine cervix, thoracic spine, and even the breast. Multifocal KHE is an extremely rare entity with few reports available in the literature, none of which describes pulmonary involvement. Herein, we report a unique case of multifocal KHE in a 13-year-old boy presenting with a huge soft tissue mass in the upper extremity complicated by bilateral pulmonary nodules that developed into large, necrotic tumor masses.

Introduction: Herein, the results of a prospective study evaluating the efficacy and safety of treatment with deferasirox are studied in iron-overloaded patients with β-thalassemia major during an 18-month trial. Methods: Thirty patients who were previously chelated with deferoxamine with/without deferiprone, and fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited. Patients received an initial dose of 10-30 mg/kg/day. Liver and cardiac MRI T2* were evaluated before and after the trial. In addition, serum ferritin level was assessed every 3 months. Primary endpoint was regarded as significant improvement in the severity of liver and cardiac iron overload in severe and moderate cases, in addition to improvement or maintenance of the grade of severity in patients with mild iron overload or normal iron accumulation. Therapy was considered effective if primary endpoint was met in >50%. Results: Liver MRI values improved significantly (P = .002), achieving a 73.33% success rate. A successful outcome regarding myocardial iron overload was observed in 80%. Finally, an overall of 66.66% of patients met the success criteria. Secondary endpoint, regarded as safety and tolerability was reached by 93.33%. The most common adverse events were skin rash and gastrointestinal disturbance. A dose between 30 and 40 mg/kg/day, tailored to each patient was considered the optimal dose. Conclusion: Deferasirox proved as an efficient and safe chelating agent in our patients, specifically in mild to moderate iron overloaded patients.