ABSTRACT
About 2-5% of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases in pediatric patients are infants with an unfavorable prognosis because of high relapse probability. Early detection of the disease is, therefore, very important. Despite the fact that leukemia in twins occurs rarely, more attention has been paid to it in genetic studies. In the present study, through cytogenetic testing, a special case of concordant ALL in monozygotic twins was presented with different outcomes. In spite of an acceptable initial consequence to medical treatment in twins, in another brother (Twin B), early relapse was observed. In the cytogenetic study, both twins expressed t (4; 11) (q21; q23) while twin A expressed t (2; 7) (p10; q10). No cases have previously reported this mutation. Whether this translocation has a protective role for leukemia with mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangement is still unclear. The difference in the translocation identified in the identical twins is also subject to further investigations.
ABSTRACT
Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is one of the complications of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation that can also be caused by high-dose chemotherapy. This complication can lead to high mortality following bone marrow transplantation. It is more common after allogeneic stem cell transplantation, and is rare after autologous stem cell transplantation. While mild cases of VOD may reduce over a period of a few weeks, very severe cases can cause multi-organ damage, which has a high mortality. is therefore required with early diagnosis and treatment of this complication. In this paper, we present a sever VOD case after autologous stem cell transplantation, that was treated successfully with Defibrotide. The patient was a 14-month-old girl who has neuroblastoma with bone metastasis. VOD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients who present with unexplained liver injuries, ascites and/or multi organ failure. Recipients of haematopoeitic stem cell transplantation who present with unexplained liver injuries, ascites and/or multi organ failure should have VOD considered in their differential diagnosis. If there is severe VOD diagnosed, then Defibrotide could be an option for treatment.
