Clinical Presentations of Acute Leukemia in Pediatric Emergency Department of Pakistan

ObjectiveTo determine the frequency, clinical presentation and laboratory investigation of leukemia in children presenting first time in pediatric emergency department of tertiary care hospital. Study Design Descriptive study Place and duration of studyDepartment of emergency medicine at Aga khan university hospital from January 2009 to December 2013. MethodA retrospective Chart review of all pediatric patient from age of 1 months to 16 years of age, presenting first time in emergency room with signs and symptom and labs investigation suggestive of acute leukemia was done.After reviewing the record, a questionnaire was filled and data was analyzed using SPSS version 19.The results are presented as mean, frequency and percentage. ResultsA total of 102 medical charts were reviewed for children aged 1 month to 16 years presenting to the ED with clinical or laboratory suspicion of Leukemia.The median age of the children was 4.75 years with majority of them below 5 years of age (57.8%) .Males (66.7%) were the dominant population with Fever (92.2%) the common presentation followed by weight loss (51%) and pallor (51%).B-Cell ALL was the most common sub-type followed by T-Cell ALL. ConclusionEarly detection of childhood leukemia in ED has contributed to improved medical care for these children.Therefore the knowledge regarding various presentations and management of life threatening situations seen with leukemia is critical to the emergency caregiver. 1.7