• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.385-390
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• 1995

Purpose : To assess the efficacy of craniospinal radiotherapy in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) experiencing the CNS relapse. Materials and Methods: Thirty ALL patients with relapse in the central nervous system (CNS) were treated with radiotherapy and intrathecal chemotherapy. Age ranged 2 to 46. The number of males and females were all 15. Twenty-two cases were previously treated with presymptomatic radiotherapy to the whole brain. The extent of radiotherapy was the whole brain (18-24 Gy) and the whole spine (12 Gy) in 21 cases but the whole brain only in the 9 cases with poor performance. Results : The complete remission rate in the CNS was $100{\%}$. Among the 12 cases ($40{\%}$) who had secondary relapse, 9 cases had the bone marrow relapse alone, 2 cases had the CNS and bone marrow relapse, 1 cases had the CNS relapse alone. Higher CNS remission rate was observed when the initial remission duration was longer than 24 months or radiation was delivered to the whole brain and the whole spine. Survival rate at 2 year was $31.6{\%}$. Remission duration in the 10 living patients ragned from 9 to 87 months (median; 58 months).

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.162-167
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• 2012

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infection in infants. Life-threatening RSV infection is often reported in young children and immunocompromised hosts. Since there is no report on ribavirin therapy for RSV pneumonia in pediatric cancer patients in Korea, we report one case of RSV pneumonia that developed in an infant with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Despite administration of oral ribavirin and intravenous immunoglobulin, the patient's respiratory distress worsened and admission to an intensive care unit was necessary. Chest x-ray showed multifocal consolidation, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum. Treatment with aerosolized ribavirin led to significant clinical improvement. The role of aerosolized ribavirin is still controversial, but it might have a therapeutic potential for severe RSV pneumonia in children with leukemia.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.8
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• pp.792-796
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• 2008

Bone pain in a child could be associated with cancer as an initial manifestation of the disease. The childhood malignancies that frequently present bone pain are leukemia, neuroblastoma, and primary bone tumors such as osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma. Persistent bone or joint pain associated with swelling, mass, or limitation of motion implies underlying serious causes. Systemic manifestations such as lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, fever, fatigue, night sweat, and laboratory abnormalities are also suggestive of malignancy. The index of suspicion tends to be low since less than 1% of children who complain of bone pain are diagnosed as cancer. Nonetheless, pediatricians should be alert to the possibilities of cancer since early detection and prompt treatment might reduce mortality.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.247-251
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• 2000

A male German Shepherd dog, $2{\frac{1}{2}}$years of age, was admitted with sudden anemia, weakness, hyperpyrexia, anorexia and lethargy. The patient showed hypoplastic anemia, thrombocytopenia, absolute and relative lymphocytosis, absolute and relative granulocytopenia, hypoalbuminemia, slight hepatic disorder, slight azotemia, hematuria and proteinuria by the screening examination. The bone marrow aspiration smear showed high cellularity, severs infiltration of lymphoblasts and prolymphocytes, and mitotic figures of lymphoid cells. The liver aspiration smear demonstrated infiltration of lymphoblasts. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was diagnosed as none of the superficial lymph nodes showed enlargement and marked functional disorder of important organs other than the liver was not found. The patient was treated with vincristine, cyclophophamide, predniosolone for chemotherapy and blood transfusion and either ampicillin or cefoperazone for supportive treatment. But the patient did not show marked remission and died 9 days after the start of the chemptherapy. The necropsy was not permitted.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.241-246
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• 2001

Burkholderia cepacia, a widespread gram-negative environmental bacillus associated with nosocomial infection, is considered to be of relatively low virulence and rarely to cause invasive disease in immunocompromised patients. Nosocomial infections resulting from the use of contaminted medication, antiseptics and instruments have also been reported in otherwise healthy hosts. We experienced two cases of B. cepacia sepsis in 10 year-old male who was medicated with the anticancer drugs for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL) and in 15 day-old newborn who was examined with voiding vesicourethrography(VCUG) for the evaluation of congenital hydronephrosis. The organism isolated from serial blood culture in ALL patient and from serial blood culture and urine culture in newborn examined with VCUG. The former ALL patient improved after antibacterial medication of imipenem and the latter newborn improved after treatment with imipenem and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.21-24
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• 2005

Acute lymphocytic leukemia(ALL) is a malignant disease of the bone marrow in which early lymphoid precursors proliferate and replace the normal hematopoietic cells of the marrow. Currently, only $20-30\%$ of adults with ALL are cured with standard chemotherapy regimens. It is very important risk factor whether to failure to achieve complete remission within 4 weeks or not. The relapse of leukemia is usually classified as hematologic and extramedullary relapse, and extramedullary leukemic infiltration is rarely observed in patients with ALL. In October 2004, a 23-year-old man presented with painless enlargement of both parotid glands. He was diagnosed as ALL(L2 subtype) one month ago, and he gained complete remission with induction chemotherapy. Fine needle aspiration cytology and bone marrow biopsy revealed extramedullary and hemtologic remission. To our knowledge this is the first report of extramedullary relapse in the parotid in ALL.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.59-63
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• 2001

The authors, over the last 6 months, have treated 2 patients with perforated typhlitis complicating acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) with good outcome. The first patient was a 13-year-old male who developed intermittent high fever, abdominal pain, abdominal distention and diarrhea during the course of maintenance chemotherapy. The peripheral leukocyte ranged from 230-470/$mm^3$. Serial ultra sonograms and CT scans demonstrated irregular thickening of the cecal and ascending colonic walls and subsequent ragged perforation of the posterior wall of the cecum. He survived after treatment by right hemicolectomy and aggressive supportive measures. The patient case was a 3 year-old female who developed intermittent high fever, right lower abdominal pain, a mass, and watery diarrhea during the course of maintenance chemotherapy. Serial ultra sonograms and CT scans demonstrated irregular thickening of the cecal wall (6-15mm in thickness) and subsequent small perforation of the posterior wall of the cecum with thick-walled localized abscess. She has recovered completely after aggressive medical management. We learned two lessons from our experience treating these patients:1) early diagnosis provided by a high index of suspicion and the use of ultra sonogram or CT scan is essential. And 2) although perforation is one of the surgical indications for the treatment of typhlitis, it is possible to manage the perforation nonoperatively in selected cases with localized abscess.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.67-72
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• 2008

Purpose : In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) grafted from HLA-matched parents. Methods : Seven children with acute leukemia (4 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 3 acute myeloid leukemia) in first complete remission received allogeneic HSCT from their respective parents at the St. Marys Hospital between April, 1999 and October, 2005. The median age of patients at transplantation was 5 years (range, 1-11 years; 2 male, 5 female) and the median age of donors was 35 years (range, 30-41 years; 5 male, 2 female). We investigated the clinical outcomes such as engraftment, acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), transplant-related morbidity and mortality, relapse and survival. Results : Median time from transplantation to last follow-up was 69.5 months (range, 18.8-96.5 months). All patients were successfully engrafted, with a median time of 11 days (range, 10-16 days) and 26 days (range, 13-39 days) for neutrophil and platelet recovery, respectively. Grade II acute GVHD occurred in 3, and grade III acute GVHD in 1 of 7 recipients. Extensive chronic GVHD developed in 2, and limited chronic GVHD in 1 of 7 recipients. Death from transplant-related complications occurred in 1, and relapse occurred in 1 of 7 recipients. Estimated 5-year overall survival was $83{\pm}15%$. Conclusion : The clinical outcomes of recipients who underwent HSCT from HLA-matched parents were comparable to those of patients who received HSCT grafted from HLA-matched sibling donors in childhood leukemia. HLA typing of parents, as well as siblings will increase the likelihood of finding an HLA-matched family donor for patients who need HSCT.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.12
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• pp.1186-1193
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• 2003

Purpose : Fragile sites are points on chromosomes which tend to break non-randomly when exposed to specific chemical agents or conditions of tissue culture. The chromosomal break induced by the antineoplastic drug, 1-${\beta}$-D-arabinofuranosyl-cytosine(Ara-c), was investigated to study the laboratory conditions in which the incidence of chromosomal break could be enhanced. Besides, the fragile sites induced by Ara-C were investigated and compared to the already known locations of the specific chromosomal alterations observed in specific neoplasms. Methods : T-lymphocytes from theree normal males and three females were cultured for 48 hours. Cells from each individual were exposed to the Ara-C for an additional 24 hours. After the caffeine was added during the last six hours culture, the metaphase chromosomes were prepared following the conventional method. A site was considered fragile if it was found to break two or more per 100 chromosomal breaks in more than four of six individuals tested. Results : Ara-C induced 252.1 chromosomal breaks per 100 mitotic cells and this result was significantly higher than that of the control, which induced 25.2 breaks(P<0.05). The incidence of the chromosomal break by Ara-C was higher, if cultured in the MEM-FA, which has no folic acid, than in the RPMI 1640 which contains enough folic acid(P<0.05). The most common break site by Ara-C was 3p14.2(FRA3B). There were 20 fragile sites induced by Ara-C. Among these 20 fragile sites, seven coincided with the locations of the mapped oncogenes, JUN, SKI, REL, N-MYC, FHIT, MET, ETS-1, and FOS. Conclusion : S phase specific chemotherapeutic agent, Ara-C, induced the expression of the chromosomal fragile sites effectively using the T-lymphocyte in vitro. Some of the fragile sites by Ara-C highly coincided with the oncogenes and neoplasm specific chromosome breakpoints. In this regard, the fragile sites reported here could provide the unknown neoplasm related chromosomal alternation points.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.182-189
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• 2007

Purpose : The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the growth and neuropsychologic function following treatments for pediatric hematologic and oncologic diseases. Healthy monozygotic twins served as ideal controls for comparison to exclude possible confounding factors. Methods : Seven children treated with various hematologic and oncologic diseases were included in the study: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; n=2), Diamond-Blackfan anemia twins (n=2), and aplastic anemia (n=3). The median age at the diagnosis was 5.2 (0.3-15) years. The median duration of follow-up was 7.2 (4.9-10) years. Controls were healthy monozygotic twins. Growth was measured and the percentile channels were evaluated sequentially for patients. The K-WISC III was applied and compared in 5 pairs of patients and controls. Results : Similar growth profiles were noted for the twins. The percentiles at diagnosis was 3-10 in 3, 25-50 in 2, and 50-75 in 2 cases. All patients stayed in their growth percentiles through follow-up, except for 1 patient who became obese. For IQ tests, the mean behavioral, verbal and full scale IQ scores of patients were 88.0, 93.8, and 89.8, respectively, and those from their corresponding controls were 92.2, 97.0, and 91.7 (P>0.05). However, 2 children who were treated for ALL had lower IQ scores. Conclusion : Similar growth profiles were observed in the monozygotic twins in terms of height and weight. The IQ scores of patients were similar to those of monozygotic twins. However, prophylactic CNS-directed therapy for leukemia might adversely affect the IQ scores. A further prospective study on larger number of twins is warranted.