1/4. febrile neutropenia as the presenting sign of appendicitis in an adolescent with acute myelogenous leukemia.The diagnosis and management of a surgical abdomen in patients with acute leukemia is quite difficult because of the complications and treatment of disease itself. A 13-year-old boy with acute myelogenous leukemia developed 2 episodes of febrile neutropenia during induction therapy. The second one was treated with a 5-day course of parenteral antimicrobial therapy, but the patient then presented with right lower quadrant abdominal tenderness, guarding, and rebound tenderness. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed appendicitis. Conservative medical management was unsuccessful, and appendectomy was performed 5 days after appendicitis was diagnosed. The patient's clinical manifestations resolved 5 days later. The case illustrates that fever may be the first manifestation of appendicitis in a child with acute myelogenous leukaemia who is neutropenic. Surgery is acceptable as first-line treatment in such cases.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = neutropenia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/4. Cyclic neutropenia--unusual cause of acute abdomen. Report of a case.Cyclic neutropenia, a rare blood disorder, may be complicated by spontaneous necrosis of the cecum and ascending colon. We describe one such case, where a staged surgical approach achieved a successful outcome. The importance of recognition of this disorder is stressed, since this allows both performance of appropriate surgery and consultation with hematologic colleagues.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = neutropenia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/4. Acute abdomen due to granulocytic sarcoma of the terminal ileum.A 57-year-old patient with chronic granulocytic leukemia in blast crisis and severe neutropenia is presented. This patient developed right sided peritonitis due to an isolated transmural granulocytic sarcoma of the terminal ileum. The affected segment was resected and the patient survived 4 more months. Thus, despite neutropenia, an aggressive surgical approach should be considered in a leukemic patient presenting with unexplained acute abdomen, since, as demonstrated here, a localized lesion which could not have otherwise been detected, was ultimately found and promptly resected.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.4keywords = neutropenia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/4. A case presentation and review of neutropenic enterocolitis.Neutropenic enterocolitis (NE) is an unusual complication of neutropenia. Its presentation is dramatic, treatment is controversial, and the outcome may be devastating. The available literature about this entity is mainly case reports and autopsy studies. We have recently performed a celiotomy on a patient who developed sepsis and an acute surgical abdomen three days following chemotherapy and radiotherapy for a metastatic adenocarcinoma with no known primary tumor. At surgery he was found to have a boggy right and recto-sigmoid colon with a grossly normal transverse colon. Intraoperative colonoscopy revealed mucosal ulceration and necrosis extending from the dentate line to the cecum. A total abdominal colectomy, closure of the rectal stump, and an ileostomy was performed. Postoperatively, the patient recovered from the abdominal septic process only to succumb to multiple system organ failure secondary to pulmonary sepsis. Upon review of the literature, we found 65 cases of NE that were suspected or diagnosed in the antemortem state and confirmed at surgery or autopsy. In this review, we intend to analyze these case reports, summarize the salient features of the disease and outline the optimal therapeutic approach.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = neutropenia (Clic here for more details about this article) |