Journal
WORLD JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGY
Volume 6, Issue 8, Pages 583-588Publisher
BAISHIDENG PUBLISHING GROUP INC
DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v6.i8.583
Keywords
Differentiation syndrome; All-trans-retinoic acid syndrome; Chest X-ray and computed tomography; Lungleukemic infiltrates; Acute promyelocytic leukaemia; Promyelocytic leukemia/retinoic acid receptor-alpha
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In acute promyelocytic leukemia, differentiation therapy based on all-trans-retinoic acid can be complicated by the development of a differentiation syndrome (DS). DS is a life-threatening complication, characterized by respiratory distress, unexplained fever, weight gain, interstitial lung infiltrates, pleural or pericardial effusions, hypotension and acute renal failure. The diagnosis of DS is made on clinical grounds and has proven to be difficult, because none of the symptoms is pathognomonic for the syndrome without any definitive diagnostic criteria. As DS can have subtle signs and symptoms at presentation but progress rapidly, end-stage DS clinical picture resembles the acute respiratory distress syndrome with extremely poor prognosis; so it is of absolute importance to be conscious of these complications and initiate therapy as soon as it was suspected. The radiologic appearance resembles the typical features of cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Diagnosis of DS remains a great skill for radiologists and haematologist but it is of an utmost importance the cooperation in suspect DS, detect the early signs of DS, examine the patients' behaviour and rapidly detect the complications. (C) 2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available