ABSTRACT
Transient leukemia of Down syndrome(TL-DS)' or transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) or transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM) is a hematologic abnormality characterized by an uncontrolled proliferation of myeloblasts in peripheral blood and bone marrow which characteristically affects newborns and babies with Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome (Trisomy 21) have a unique predisposition to develop myeloid leukemia of Down syndrome(ML-DS). In majority of cases of TL-DS, the GATA1 mutant clone goes into spontaneous remission without the need for chemotherapy. However, 10-20 % of neonates with TL-DS and silent TL-DS subsequently develop ML-DS in the first 5 years of life due to additional oncogenic mutations acquired by the persistent GATA1 mutant cells. We present here, one such case of Down syndrome with TL-DS in a neonate.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Children with Down syndrome (DS) have a 10- to 20-fold increased risk of developing leukemia. However, in some patients, leukemia does not become apparent despite significant number of blast cells in the peripheral blood. This condition is called Transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD), and is a disease entity unique to DS newborns and defined as the morphologic detection of blasts in DS less than three months of age. The present study investigated whether there was a difference between leukemia and TMD, and determined prognostic and risk factors.METHODS: We collected blood samples from 317 patients of 433 DS confirmed patients. We found 18 patients who had blast cells in their peripheral blood.RESULTS: Twelve patients were positive for blasts during the neonate period, and only one patient progressed to leukemia. The other 11 patients were later diagnosed with TMD. Six more patients were later diagnosed with leukemia, therefore, 7 patients were diagnosed with leukemia in total. All patients diagnosed with leukemia had anemia at the time of diagnosis, which was not found in TMD patients. All leukemia patients developed their disease after three months of life. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients had additional chromosome mutation to trisomy 21 when they were diagnosed.CONCLUSION: In patients with Down Syndrome, anemia at diagnosis and age of onset could be helpful in distinguishing TMD from acute leukemia. Cancerous mutations in the chromosomes of peripheral and marrow blast cells of Down syndrome patients may foreshadow acute leukemia.
Subject(s)
Child , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Age of Onset , Anemia , Bone Marrow , Diagnosis , Down Syndrome , Leukemia , Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute , Myeloproliferative Disorders , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Children with Down syndrome (DS) have a 10- to 20-fold increased risk of developing leukemia. However, in some patients, leukemia does not become apparent despite significant number of blast cells in the peripheral blood. This condition is called Transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD), and is a disease entity unique to DS newborns and defined as the morphologic detection of blasts in DS less than three months of age. The present study investigated whether there was a difference between leukemia and TMD, and determined prognostic and risk factors. METHODS: We collected blood samples from 317 patients of 433 DS confirmed patients. We found 18 patients who had blast cells in their peripheral blood. RESULTS: Twelve patients were positive for blasts during the neonate period, and only one patient progressed to leukemia. The other 11 patients were later diagnosed with TMD. Six more patients were later diagnosed with leukemia, therefore, 7 patients were diagnosed with leukemia in total. All patients diagnosed with leukemia had anemia at the time of diagnosis, which was not found in TMD patients. All leukemia patients developed their disease after three months of life. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients had additional chromosome mutation to trisomy 21 when they were diagnosed. CONCLUSION: In patients with Down Syndrome, anemia at diagnosis and age of onset could be helpful in distinguishing TMD from acute leukemia. Cancerous mutations in the chromosomes of peripheral and marrow blast cells of Down syndrome patients may foreshadow acute leukemia.
Subject(s)
Child , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Age of Onset , Anemia , Bone Marrow , Diagnosis , Down Syndrome , Leukemia , Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute , Myeloproliferative Disorders , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Children with Down syndrome (DS) have a higher risk of developing leukemia than do healthy children, and they especially have a higher risk for developing transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) or acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AMKL). In recent studies, it has been reported that most of these patients have acquired mutation of the GATA1 gene, which encodes the erythroid/megakaryocytic transcription factor GATA1. GATA1 mutations have not been found in AMKL patients who did not have DS and other hematologic malignancies in DS. Most of the GATA1 mutations in DS-TMD/AMKL are nonsense mutations that are mainly located in exon 2. We observed a nonsense mutation in exon 2 of GATA1 [c.189_190delCA (Tyr63X)] in one case of DS-TMD. The GATA1 mutation has been thought to be an early event in the leukemogenesis of DS-TMD/AMKL and it could be used as a stable molecular marker to assess the treatment response or to monitor for the recurrence of DS-TMD/AMKL.
Subject(s)
Child , Humans , Codon, Nonsense , Down Syndrome , Exons , GATA1 Transcription Factor , Hematologic Neoplasms , Leukemia , Leukemia, Megakaryoblastic, Acute , Myeloproliferative Disorders , Organothiophosphorus Compounds , RecurrenceABSTRACT
Down syndrome (DS) is associated with a higher incidence of leukemia than general population; the subtype is acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) in 50% of cases. DS is also strongly associated with transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD), which is usually diagnosed during newborns and infants. Due to its difficulty in distinguishing TMD from acute leukemia (AL), the diagnosis of TMD should be made with extreme caution. Unlike AL, most cases of TMD resolve spontaneously within 3 months; blast cells disappear within 8 weeks in 80% and within 10 weeks in 90% of the surviving patients. Some infants with TMD, however, may have a severe complication leading into life-threatening clinical course with hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy, liver impairment, respiratory distress, anemia, infection and hemorrhage. Rarely, AL can develop after remission of TMD. We report a case of TMD with DS in newly born infant who presented hepatosplenomegaly on prenatal sonography and improved with exchange transfusion, steroid.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Anemia , Diagnosis , Down Syndrome , Hemorrhage , Incidence , Leukemia , Leukemia, Megakaryoblastic, Acute , Liver , Lymphatic Diseases , Myeloproliferative DisordersABSTRACT
Transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD), which may mimic acute leukemia, occurs in neonates with Down syndrome along with hepatic fibrosis. TMD is recognized shortly after birth or in the neonatal period and is characterized by leukocytosis and thrombocytopenia, which resolve spontaneously in four to six weeks. And hepatic fibrosis is characterized by diffuse intralobular sinusoidal fibrosis, extramedullary hematopoiesis and hemochromatosis. A newborn male infant with Down syndrome, atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect is reported. He showed abnormal myelopoiesis accompanying characteristic hepatic sinusoidal fibrosis. Knowing the cellular mechanism of hepatic fibrosis and its modulation by growth factors, a pathogenetic link between transient myeloproliferative disorder and the development of liver fibrosis in Down syndrome neonates, association of this triad no longer appears to be accidental.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Down Syndrome , Fibrosis , Heart Septal Defects, Atrial , Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular , Hematopoiesis, Extramedullary , Hemochromatosis , Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins , Leukemia , Leukocytosis , Liver Cirrhosis , Myelopoiesis , Myeloproliferative Disorders , Parturition , ThrombocytopeniaABSTRACT
Individuals with Down syndrome have a high incidence of hematologic diseases such as transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) and acute leukemia comparing to the normal children. TMD usually undergoes complete recovery within a few months without any treatment. In Korea, there were several cases of TMD with Down syndrome in the literatures, but no reports of TMD in a phenotypically normal newborn with mosaic Down syndrome. We experienced a case of TMD in a 19- day-old male who was phenotypically normal newborn with mosaic Down syndrome. Specific treatment was withheld, hematologic recovery occurred within one month of diagnosis. We report the case with brief review of literature.