Burkitt Leukemia in a Child with Beta Thalassemia Major

Document Type : Case Report

Authors

1 Children and Adolescent Health Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

2 General Physician, Thalassemia Ward, Ali-Asghar Children Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

Abstract

Due to the advances in the treatment of patients with beta thalassemia major, their lifespan has increased, and hence, they are exposed to various morbidities including malignancies. In this study, a 4-year-old male child with beta thalassemia major who received regular blood transfusions every four weeks at thalassemia center is described. As he complained of abdominal pain, abdominal ultrasound was performed. The results showed ileocolic intussusception. He underwent surgery by a general surgeon, but there was no follow-up and the patient did not revisit the surgeon. Two months later, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist visited the patient who exhibited symptoms of fever, pallor, weakness, abdominal pain, and abdominal distension. Bone marrow aspiration was done under local anesthesia because the patient suffered from bone pain, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. It was found that bone marrow was infiltrated with more than 90% vacuolated lymphoblast, which confirmed Burkitt leukemia (ALL L3). Flow cytometry analysis also confirmed this diagnosis.

Keywords

References

  1. Vermylen C. What is new in iron overload? Eur J Pediatr. 2008; 167(4):377-81. doi: 10.1007/s00431-007-0604-y.
  2. Ansari S, Azarkeivan A, Miri-Aliabad G, Yousefian S, Rostami T. Comparison of iron chelation effects of deferoxamine, deferasirox, and combination of deferoxamine and deferiprone on liver and cardiac T2* MRI in thalassemia maior. Caspian J Intern Med. 2017; 8(3):159-64. doi: 10.22088/cjim.8.3.159.
  3. Alavi S, Safari A, Sadeghi E, Amiri S. Hematological malignancies complicating β-thalassemia syndromes: a single center experience. Blood Res. 2013; 48(2): 149-51. doi: 10.5045/br.2013.48.2.149.
  4. Zanella S, Garani MC, Borgna-Pignatti C. Malignancies and thalassemia: a review of the literature. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016; 1368(1):140-8. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13005.
  5. Tugcu D, Karakas Z, Gokce M, Agaoglu L, Unuvar A, Sarıbeyoglu E, et al. Thalassemia intermedia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia: is it a coincidental double diagnosis? Turk J Haematol. 2014; 31(3):311-2. doi: 10.4274/tjh.2014.0068.
  6. Sherief LM, Kamal NM, Abdelrahman HM, Hassan BA, Zakaria MM. First report of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in an Egyptian child with β-thalassemia major. Hemoglobin. 2015; 39(2):127-9. doi: 10.3109/03630269.2015.1005747.
  7. Karimi M, Giti R, Haghpanah S, Azarkeivan A, Hoofar H, Eslami M. Malignancies in patients with beta-thalassemia major and beta-thalassemia intermedia: a multicenter study in Iran. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2009; 53(6):1064-7. doi: 10.1002/pbc.22144.
  8. Ansari S, Azarkivan A, Halagi F. Incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with thalassemia who had hepatitis C. Acta Med Iran. 2013; 51(6):404-7. PMID: 23852846.
  9. Panich V, Na-Nakorn S, Piankijagum A. Hemoglobinopathies and G6PD deficiency in lymphoma. J Med Assoc Thailand 1974; 57:1-10.
  10. Chung WS, Lin CL, Lin CL, Kao CH. Thalassaemia and risk of cancer: a population-based cohort study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2015; 69(11):1066-70. doi: 10.1136/
    jech-2014-205075.
  11. Halawi R, Beydoun H, Cappellini MD, Ferla V, Taher A. Hematologic malignancies in thalassemia: Adding new cases to the repertoire. Am J Hematol. 2017; 92(5):68-70. doi: 10.1002/ajh.24681.
  12. Hodroj MH, Bou-Fakhredin R, Nour-Eldine W, Noureldine HA, Noureldine MHA, Taher AT. Thalassemia and malignancy: An emerging concern? Blood Rev. 2019; 37:100585. doi: 10.1016/j.blre.2019.06.002.

 

Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
Volume 29, Issue 1
January and February 2022
Pages 91-94

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics