Acute leukemia case presented with hypercalcemia

Abstract

An 8-year-old girl patient referred to our emergency clinic with articular pain, stomachache and fever complaints. Past history revealed that she was suffering from pain in both knees and ankle joints for 8 days. The joint temperature increased and swelling did not accompany articular pain. Family history was unremarkable. In the physical examination, there was sensitivity in the knees, elbows and ankles during movement. The patient had normal complete blood cell count, and no blast or atypical cells were observed in peripheral smear. Serum electrolytes, liver and kidney function tests were normal except for hypercalcemia. The 25 (OH) vitamin D and 1-25 (OH)2 vitamin D levels were within normal range. In bone marrow aspiration, infiltration of cells with lymphoblastic and homogenous cellular features was observed. With positivity of cCD79, CD19, CD45, the case was considered as preB cell leukemia. Body bone scintigraphy performed for bone metastasis was normal. After the chemotherapy, hydration and furosemid treatment, the calcium level returned to normal. This case emphasized on the fact that, children with hypercalcemia should undergo a detailed examination for malignancies even though no blast or atypical lymphocyte are observed in their peripheral blood smear before steroid treatment is applied and if necessary, bone marrow aspiration should be taken into account.

Keywords

• Acute leukemia, hypercalcemia, childhood malignancy