Resumen

CAMPBELL B, Myriam et al. Leucemia linfoblástica aguda. Características al diagnóstico en 100 niños. Rev. chil. pediatr. [online]. 1999, vol.70, n.4, pp. 288-293. ISSN 0370-4106.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0370-41061999000400004.

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Characteristics at diagnosis in 100 patients The objective is to report the features at diagnosis in children with ALL, describing the different presentations that allows the clinician to suspect this entity. Patients and methods: retrospective analysis of the clinical records of patients treated at the Roberto del Río Hospital between january 1992 and june 1998. Results: 62% male, peak age incidence was between 1-6 years (60%). The median time before diagnosis of ALL was 2.5 weeks. The most frequent symptoms were weakness (81%), pallor (66%), fever (60%), bone pain (30%) and purpura (24%). The most common physical findings were hepatomegaly (71%), lymphadenopathy (71%) and splenomegaly (24%). The blood analysis was always abnormal: anaemia (90%), thrombocytopenia (72%), neutropenia (62%) and circulating lymphoblasts (67%). Most patients presented with a mixture of syndromes (anaemic, fever, tumoral, bone pain), only 23 were momosymptomatic (all had neutropenia). Conclusion: a careful history and physical examination with a detailed interpretation of the peripheral blood count allows paediatricians to suspect this disease that today has a high probability of cure.

Palabras llave : acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; children; diagnosis.