Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report

Acute leukemia is the commonest pediatric malignancy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) constituting about 75% of all leukemias. ALL commonly presents as fever, bleeding, bone pains, anemia, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. The liver, spleen or lymph nodes are the most common sites of e...

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Main Authors: Shilpa Khanna Arora, Swarnim Swarnim, Alok Hemal, Neha Bidhuri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2019-02-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/657
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author Shilpa Khanna Arora
Swarnim Swarnim
Alok Hemal
Neha Bidhuri
author_facet Shilpa Khanna Arora
Swarnim Swarnim
Alok Hemal
Neha Bidhuri
author_sort Shilpa Khanna Arora
collection DOAJ
description Acute leukemia is the commonest pediatric malignancy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) constituting about 75% of all leukemias. ALL commonly presents as fever, bleeding, bone pains, anemia, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. The liver, spleen or lymph nodes are the most common sites of extramedullary involvement in ALL, with renal involvement being relatively uncommon. The usual differential diagnosis of acquired massive bilateral nephromegaly in children includes pyelonephritis, obstructive uropathy, infections such as HIV nephropathy, mucormycosis, glycogen storage diseases, myelofibrosis with extramedullary hematopoiesis, kidney tumors and rarely hematological malignancies like ALL. Here we report a 2 years old child who presented with abdominal distention, low grade fever and constipation. Clinical examination revealed massive bilateral nephromegaly. Preliminary investigations showed severe anemia and slightly elevated WBC counts with presence of reactive changes in lymphocytes along with few atypical cells (9%). Abdominal ultrasonography revealed bilaterally enlarged kidneys which was later confirmed by CT abdomen. He was eventually diagnosed with CALLA positive B cell ALL for which treatment was started in accordance with the International network for cancer treatment and research (INCTR) protocol 02 04. At present, he is on maintenance phase and responding well to the treatment with regression of kidney size to normal on follow up ultrasonogram. Thus, leukemia should be considered in a child presenting with bilateral nephromegaly after exclusion of above mentioned differential diagnosis. Bone marrow aspiration must be done before doing a more invasive investigation like renal biopsy.
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spelling doaj-art-193c64c1f3c04b048a7f2f04aef4ede02025-08-20T02:01:47ZengHacettepe University Institute of Child HealthThe Turkish Journal of Pediatrics0041-43012791-64212019-02-0161110.24953/turkjped.2019.01.015Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case reportShilpa Khanna Arora0Swarnim Swarnim1Alok Hemal2Neha Bidhuri3Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India.Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India. Acute leukemia is the commonest pediatric malignancy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) constituting about 75% of all leukemias. ALL commonly presents as fever, bleeding, bone pains, anemia, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. The liver, spleen or lymph nodes are the most common sites of extramedullary involvement in ALL, with renal involvement being relatively uncommon. The usual differential diagnosis of acquired massive bilateral nephromegaly in children includes pyelonephritis, obstructive uropathy, infections such as HIV nephropathy, mucormycosis, glycogen storage diseases, myelofibrosis with extramedullary hematopoiesis, kidney tumors and rarely hematological malignancies like ALL. Here we report a 2 years old child who presented with abdominal distention, low grade fever and constipation. Clinical examination revealed massive bilateral nephromegaly. Preliminary investigations showed severe anemia and slightly elevated WBC counts with presence of reactive changes in lymphocytes along with few atypical cells (9%). Abdominal ultrasonography revealed bilaterally enlarged kidneys which was later confirmed by CT abdomen. He was eventually diagnosed with CALLA positive B cell ALL for which treatment was started in accordance with the International network for cancer treatment and research (INCTR) protocol 02 04. At present, he is on maintenance phase and responding well to the treatment with regression of kidney size to normal on follow up ultrasonogram. Thus, leukemia should be considered in a child presenting with bilateral nephromegaly after exclusion of above mentioned differential diagnosis. Bone marrow aspiration must be done before doing a more invasive investigation like renal biopsy. https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/657acute lymphoblastic leukemiakidneynephromegaly
spellingShingle Shilpa Khanna Arora
Swarnim Swarnim
Alok Hemal
Neha Bidhuri
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report
The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
acute lymphoblastic leukemia
kidney
nephromegaly
title Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report
title_full Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report
title_fullStr Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report
title_full_unstemmed Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report
title_short Acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child: A rare case report
title_sort acute lymphoblastic leukemia presenting as nephromegaly in a child a rare case report
topic acute lymphoblastic leukemia
kidney
nephromegaly
url https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/657
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AT swarnimswarnim acutelymphoblasticleukemiapresentingasnephromegalyinachildararecasereport
AT alokhemal acutelymphoblasticleukemiapresentingasnephromegalyinachildararecasereport
AT nehabidhuri acutelymphoblasticleukemiapresentingasnephromegalyinachildararecasereport