Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: an unusual cause of nephromegaly in infancy

Renal involvement at diagnosis of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Acute leukemia is the most common type of cancer in pediatric patients. This type of cancer accounts for a third of all childhood cancer cases. More than half of pediatric acute leukemia patients show signs and symptoms such as hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, pallor, fever and bruising at the time of diagnosis. In early stages of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), nephromegaly and other renal manifestations such as high blood pressure (HBP) and renal failure are uncommon, although renal infiltration and nephromegaly are common in advanced-stage pediatric patients. This is a retrospective case review with a critical appraisal of the existing evidence from the literature. We present a clinical case of a child with HBP associated with bilateral nephromegaly which resolved after chemotherapy treatment. This patient presented with HBP that required pharmacological treatment, likely owing to nephromegaly. All HBP secondary causes were rejected. Nephromegaly was resolved after chemotherapy treatment, and antihypertensive medication was discontinued. Nephromegaly and HBP are rare manifestations of ALL debut in pediatrics. The present case report illustrates this unusual combination and Suggests clinicians to consider malignancy as its causal factor, especially if the symptoms are accompanied by other suggestive extrarenal manifestations.

A Child with Bulky Kidneys and Renal Failure

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in children. Acute renal failure is a well-recognized complication of ALL after initiation of chemotherapy. Renal failure as the primary manifestation of ALL with no evidence of tumor lysis is rare.

Renal Presentation in Pediatric Acute Leukemia: Report of 2 Cases

Renal enlargement at time of diagnosis of acute leukemia is very unusual. We here in report 2 pediatric cases of acute leukemia who had their renal affection as the first presenting symptom with no evidences of blast cells in blood smear and none of classical presentation of acute leukemia. The first case is a 4-year-old girl who presented with pallor and abdominal enlargement. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral symmetrical homogenous enlarged kidneys suggestive of infiltration. Complete blood picture (CBC) revealed white blood count 11 × 10⁹/L, hemoglobin 8.7 g/dL and platelet count 197 × 10⁹/L. Bone marrow aspiration was performed, and diagnosed precursor B-cell ALL was made. The child had an excellent response to modified CCG 1991 standard risk protocol of chemotherapy with sustained remission, but unfortunately relapsed 11 month after the end of therapy. The second child was 13-month old, presented with pallor, vomiting, abdominal enlargement, and oliguria 2 days before admission. Initial CBC showed bicytopenia, elevated blood urea, creatinine, and serum uric acid, while abdominal ultrasonography revealed bilateral renal enlargement. Bone marrow examination was done and showed 92% blast of biphenotypic nature. So, biphynotypic leukemia with bilateral renal enlargement and acute renal failure was subsequently diagnosed. The patients admitted to ICU and received supportive care and prednisolone. Renal function normalized and chemotherapy was started. The child achieved complete remission with marked reduction of kidney size but, unfortunately she died from sepsis in consolidation phase of therapy. This case demonstrates an unusual early renal enlargement in childhood acute leukemia. Renal involvement of acute leukemia should be considered in child presenting with unexplained bilateral renal enlargement with or without renal function abnormalities and bone marrow examination should be included in the workup.

Bilateral parotid gland enlargement and palpable nephromegaly in infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia: case report and review of the literature

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in infants below 1 year of age accounts for 2.5% to 5% of childhood ALL. Most children with ALL present with fever, bruising, mucosal bleeding, bone pain, pallor, hepatosplenomegaly, and lymphadenopathy. Common sites of extramedullary involvement at diagnosis include liver, spleen, lymph nodes, brain, and testes. Nephromegaly has also been reported. We present a novel case of bilateral parotid enlargement along with bilateral palpable nephromegaly in a patient with newly diagnosed infant ALL. This unique presentation highlights the importance of considering ALL in the differential diagnosis of parotid enlargement especially when associated with abnormal blood counts.