Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome in pediatric patients: a case series

Abstract

Spontaneous occurrence of Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS) is very rare. Only 3 pediatric case reports were reported in literature. All 3 patients presented with therapy-sensitive disease. Unfortunately, only one patient survived. It is preventable in 100% of patients, but TLS is a hard nut to crack. We present three distinct cases of spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome within the pediatric population, each associated with different types of tumors.

A 3-year-old boy with mediastinal germ cell tumor of stage III, had hyperuricemia and hyperphosphatemia on presentation, tumor lysis syndrome improved but later died with sepsis, another patient of 4-year-old girl with precursor B cell acute lymphoblastic lymphoma had hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia and hyperphosphatemia on presentation and third patient was 6-year-old boy with abdominal Burkitt lymphoma stage III presented with hyperkalemia, hyperuricemia, hyperphosphatemia and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) before initiation of chemotherapy. Later both these patients improved and survived. Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome has high mortality, so it is of utmost importance to diagnose it timely. Swift and effective responses to spontaneous TLS can significantly reduce the risk of mortality linked to this critical emergency condition.

Abbreviations: AKI - Acute Kidney Injury; ASDII - secundum atrial septal defect; TLS - Tumor Lysis Syndrome;

Keywords: Pediatric Oncology; Sepsis; Tumor Lysis Syndrome;

Citation: Ajmal MU, Saleem R, Saad Ur Rehman SU, Arslan M, Malik I. Spontaneous tumor lysis syndrome in pediatric patients: a case series. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2024;28(2):372−375; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v28i2.2409

Received: January 18, 2024; Revised: February 10, 2024; Accepted: February 15, 2024