What are Some Childhood Leukemia Symptoms?

Leukemia is a malignant proliferative disease of the hematopoietic system, and is one of the diseases that seriously threaten the life and health of children. Leukemias that occur in childhood are mostly acute leukemias.

Basic Information

nickname

Pediatric Leukemia

Visiting department

Hematology

Common causes

Etiology unknown, related to viral, chemical, radiological, genetic and other factors

Common symptoms

Fever, bleeding, anemia, enlarged liver, spleen, and lymph nodes

Contagious

no

Causes of childhood leukemia

The cause of the disease is still unclear, and more evidence is believed to be related to some viral infections or to excessive exposure to radioactive substances and certain chemical substances such as benzene. However, external factors always work through internal factors, so children's own immune function is the main condition for the onset of disease. Enhancing physique can reduce the invasion of carcinogenic factors. Once sick, early detection and regular treatment can completely cure some patients. It is currently believed to be related to the following factors. Virus factor; Chemical factor; Radiation factor; Genetic factor.

Clinical manifestations of childhood leukemia

Early manifestations are mostly burnout, weakness, and loss of appetite. There are also symptoms that initially manifest as an upper respiratory tract infection, or a rash. Bone and joint pain are also more common symptoms. Diagnosis of typical cases is not difficult. Pay attention to timely medical examinations and blood tests, and pay attention to superficial lymph nodes, liver and spleen when examining the body, which will help improve the early diagnosis rate. In addition, you should also pay attention to the presence of skin nodules, skin mucosal bleeding (nasal bleeding, bleeding gums, bleeding spots of skin ecchymosis, etc.), gingival swelling and hyperplasia.

Pediatric leukemia is clinically divided into two categories: acute and chronic:

Acute leukemia has an acute onset, a short course, and rapid development, with fever and joint and sternum pain as its main manifestations.

Chronic leukemia has a slow onset and a long course of disease. The main manifestations are pale skin, fever, fatigue, sweating, lack of energy, and weight loss. Clinical can be divided into acute and chronic leukemia, according to the source of leukemia cells can be divided into: lymphocytic leukemia and myeloid leukemia. These two categories can be further divided into a variety of subtypes, each of which has some significance in prognostic judgment, and there are differences in treatment options.

Fever

Is the most common first symptom. Due to the lack of normal white blood cells, especially mature granulocytes, the body's normal defense function is impaired, so infection can cause fever.

2. bleeding

More than half of the children are accompanied by varying degrees of bleeding, which are mainly manifested as bleeding from the nasal mucosa, oral cavity, gums, and skin, and severe internal organs and intracranial hemorrhage, which can often cause child death.

3. Anemia

It is the most common early symptom, which can be progressively aggravated, the child's complexion, pale skin and mucous membranes, weakness, and loss of appetite.

4. Swelling of the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes

In acute lymphocytic leukemia, liver, spleen, and lymph node enlargement are more pronounced. In chronic myelogenous leukemia, splenomegaly is more pronounced.

5. Leukemia cells infiltrate the central nervous system

Meningeal leukemia can occur, and children can experience headaches, nausea, vomiting, and even convulsions and coma.

In addition, boys may develop testicular infiltration, manifested as painless swelling of the testicles.

Childhood Leukemia Test

It mainly includes blood image, bone marrow image, immunohistochemical staining, bone marrow cell immunological typing, leukemia fusion gene detection, IgH and TCR gene rearrangement detection, and chromosome karyotype analysis.

Film degree exam. The abnormal changes of blood test data, most children have leukocytosis, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, and bone marrow leukocytes showed significant proliferation. In a few patients, the white blood cell count can be reduced. The proportion of immature cells in the classification varies depending on the morning and evening and the type of the visit, and even the immature cells cannot be detected in the hemogram.

Pediatric Leukemia Treatment

Treatment principle

Early detection, early diagnosis, early treatment, intermittent and alternate medication, adhere to long-term treatment, and prevent recurrence. Comprehensive treatment based on chemotherapy can be combined with supportive therapy, immunotherapy or bone marrow transplantation.

2. chemotherapy

The treatment of childhood leukemia is mainly chemotherapy, and only a few high-risk patients need radiotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The principle of chemotherapy is multi-drug combination and multi-course treatment. The intensity and plan of chemotherapy are determined according to the clinical risk grouping. Although the treatment methods are different in each group, the treatment principles remain the same. Induction remission treatment is given after intensive treatment (or consolidation treatment) and maintenance treatment to eliminate residual leukemia cells. Central nervous system treatment begins early in the clinic, and the length of treatment should be based on the patient's risk of recurrence, the intensity of systemic treatment, and whether or not craniocerebral radiation was used.

(1) Objective To kill leukemia cells, relieve symptoms caused by infiltration of leukemia cells, alleviate the condition and even recover.

(2) Procedure Induction treatment makes leukemia completely relieved. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is commonly used in combination with vincristine, prednisone, cyclophosphamide, etc .; acute granulocytic leukemia is often used in combination with cytarabine, daunorubicin, and apoplexy. Consolidation treatment is performed after the leukemia reaches complete remission in order to kill the leukemia cells to the maximum. Under normal circumstances, continuous complete remission for 3 years can be discontinued and observed.