Acute Pancreatitis as an Initial Manifestation of Pediatric AML: A Case Report with Review of Literature

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) accounts for around 15 to 20% of childhood leukemia. Acute leukemia has variable presenting features and extramedullary manifestations typically occur in 10 to 20% of patients with AML, even before bone marrow involvement. Therefore, leukemia may get unnoticed if symptoms from other organs predominate. Acute pancreatitis, as an initial manifestation of acute leukemia, is seen commonly during and after the course of chemotherapy. Here, we report the case of a 16-year-old female patient who presented with pain abdomen, multiple swellings in the neck, axilla, and breast for 2 months and had jaundice at presentation was diagnosed to be having acute pancreatitis with AML. Pancreatitis was resolved after starting cytoreductive chemotherapy. Hence, the causation of pancreatitis in the index case was likely due to pancreatic infiltration by the leukemic cells, unlike the common etiologies such as hypercalcemia and chemotherapy drugs seen in the setting of leukemia.