Clinical analysis of 24 cases of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia with renal involvement as the initial manifestation / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and long-term prognosis of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with renal involvement as the initial manifestation, thus enhancing the diagnostic and therapeutic efficacy.Methods:Twenty-four cases of pediatric ALL with renal involvement as the initial manifestation treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March 2013 to March 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, and their clinical characteristics were analyzed.According to renal imaging examination findings, they were divided into abnormal group and normal group.The differences in clinical features between the two groups were compared, and the cumulative survival rate was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method.Results:Among 1 030 newly treated cases of pediatric ALL, 24 cases(2.33%) had renal involvement as the initial manifestation, involving 20 males and 4 females, with a male/female ratio of 5∶1 and the median age of 4.3 years (1.3-14.0 years). There were 16 cases of superficial lymph node enlargement and 21 cases of hepatosplenomegaly.Immature cells in peripheral blood were found in 15 cases.Nine cases were examined with abnormal renal imaging, involving 8 cases returned normal after chemotherapy, and 1 died of renal failure.At the end of follow-up on August 1, 2020, there were 9 cases of bone marrow relapse, 11 survival cases, 10 death cases and 3 cases of loss to follow-up.There were no significant differences in the sex, age, immunophenotype, organ infiltration and urinary protein between the two groups (all P>0.05). The proportion of high creatinine level and intramedullary recurrence rate in the abnormal group were significantly higher than those in the normal group [55.6%(5/9 cases) vs.0(0/15 cases), P=0.003; 66.7%(6/9 cases) vs.20.0%(3/15 cases), P=0.036]. The survival analysis indicated that the 3-year cumulative survival in the abnormal group was significantly lower than that of normal group (17.3% vs.72.7%, χ2=4.047, P< 0.05). Conclusions:For children with unexplained renal involvement as the initial manifestation, clinicians should consider the possibility of leukemic renal infiltration or nephrogenic lymphoma.Physical examinations of the liver, spleen and lymph nodes, morphological analysis of peripheral blood cells, bone marrow examination and renal biopsy are important to make a definite diagnosis in time.Children with imaging abnormalities caused by leukemic renal infiltration are more likely to relapse and have a lower survival rate, which may be a poor prognostic factor for ALL.