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Orthopedic Problems in Children can be the first sign of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

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eMediNexus    25 November 2020

The diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can be delayed due to vague presentation and normal hematological results. However, orthopedic manifestations could be the primary presentation of ALL to physicians, and these symptoms in children should raise suspicion, even in the absence of hematological abnormalities, suggests a report published in the Journal of Orthopaedics.

The study retrospectively evaluated 250 consecutive ALL patients at a single institution to ascertain the frequency of ALL cases presented to the orthopedic department and to establish the number of these patients presenting with normal hematological results. Around 8.8% of the patients (22/250) presented primarily to the orthopedic department (4 with vertebral compression fractures, 12 with joint pain, and 6 with bone pain), and were later diagnosed with ALL. Six of these 22 patients (27.3%) had a normal peripheral blood smear, reported researchers. The findings are published in the Journal of Orthopaedics.

Source: Journal of Orthopaedics, 22(2020);326-330

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