Cardiotoxicity evaluation in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia - results of prospective study.

AIM: The chemotherapy protocol for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) uses low doses of anthracyclines (AC), generally associated with subclinical cardiotoxicity. The aim of our study was to evaluate the serum biomarkers and echocardiography parameters in children with ALL treated with AC in order to determine the most useful element for early detection of cardiotoxicity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this prospective study, troponin I (TnI) and heart-type fatty acid binding protein (HFABP) were assessed five times during the first year after the onset of ALL. Serial Tissue Doppler Imaging and conventional cardiac echography were performed by two pediatric cardiologists (intraclass correlation coefficient over 0.85 for all measurements) in three periods during the study protocol. RESULTS: We evaluated 48 children with ALL. TnI increased during therapy, without returning to baseline values one year after diagnosis. HFABP did not show significant changes during the study protocol. Left ventricle outflow tract time-velocity integral and peak systolic septal mitral annulus velocity decreased during chemotherapy and returned to baseline levels at one year after diagnosis, while peak systolic tricuspid annulus velocity and excursion, maintained a descending tendency. Early filling transmitral flow velocity and E/A ratio were also transiently influenced by chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed signs of transient cardiotoxicity in the left ventricle and diastolic parameters after chemotherapy, compared to right ventricle parameters which maintained low values even one year after diagnosis. TnI proved to be directly proportional to chemotherapy doses but HFABP was not useful in this setting.

The occurrence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia after chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia: case report and literature review.

The occurrence of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in the same patient is a rare event. In published literature, CML diagnosis follows CLL diagnosis or both leukemias are diagnosed simultaneously or rarely, CLL diagnosis follows CML diagnosis. We report the case of one patient with renal adenocarcinoma who was diagnosed with CLL 60 months after CML diagnosis. At that time, the patient was in complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and major molecular response (MMR) of CML clone according to European LeukemiaNet (ELN) recommendations and presented clinical and hematological signs of progressive CLL clone. After 24 months of regular monitoring, the patient presented signs of CLL clone expansion. The FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) analysis for CLL prognostic factors, performed before treatment, was positive for tumor protein p53 (TP53) and 13q14.3 mutations. The Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) was considered but TP53 mutation was considered acquired and patient's reduced overall, progression free and disease free survival might sustained that hypothesis. Imatinib (IM) was stopped and patient received chemotherapy until obtained a stable partial response. Twelve months after last cycle of chemotherapy, the patient received second line treatment due CLL clone progression signs but died due to neutropenia related complications. This article is the first Romanian report of CLL occurrence after CML diagnosis and as far as we know the fourth case report of such association in published literature.

Subtotal laparoscopic splenectomy and esophagogastric devascularization for the thrombocytopenia because of portal cavernoma--case report.

UNLABELLED: An 8-year-old girl presented with a history of pain in the right hypocondrium, multiple petechiae in the skin, and ecchimoses at sites of minor trauma. Laboratory investigations showed severe thrombocytopenia. Doppler ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging showed portal and splenic vein cavernomatous transformation and splenomegaly. The patient underwent laparoscopic subtotal splenectomy with lower pole preservation and esophagogastric devascularization. The postoperative course was uneventful. No gastrointestinal bleeding occurred within the first 34 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Thrombocytopenia associated with splenomegaly is a rare form of presentation in portal cavernoma. Preserving the spleen immune function must be a goal in surgical management, especially in children. Laparoscopic subtotal splenectomy combined with esophagogastric devascularization is a difficult procedure, but it can be useful in patients with portal cavernoma and severe thrombocytopenia without gastrointestinal bleeding.