Case Report
Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Presenting as
Acute Renal Failure
Ashley Rose ,
1
Samuel Slone,
1
and Eric Padron
2
1
Internal Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33602, USA
2
Malignant Hematology, H. Lee Moftt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL 33602, USA
Correspondence should be addressed to Ashley Rose; ashleyrose2@health.usf.edu
Received 23 March 2019; Accepted 7 May 2019; Published 13 May 2019
Academic Editor: Yoshihide Fujigaki
Copyright © 2019 Ashley Rose et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the second most common acute leukemia in adults. It is an aggressive hematologic
neoplasm, with a bimodal age distribution typically presenting in childhood and the 6
th
decade of life (Terwilliger and Abdul-
Hay, 2017). Renal injury in ALL is common and can occur through many diferent mechanisms, such as prerenal acute kidney
injury, acute tubular necrosis, renovascular disease, obstruction, glomerulonephritis, and parenchymal infltration of tumor cells
(Luciano and Brewster, 2014). Infltration of kidneys by leukemia cells is common; however a resultant injury only occurs in about
1% of patients, and renal failure is even more rare (Luciano and Brewster, 2014). Renal failure due to bilateral infltration of tumor
cells has been reported in only a few cases and is thought to be a poor prognostic indicator (Luciano and Brewster, 2014; Sherief et
al., 2015). Biopsy is essential to the diagnosis of renal infltration of leukemia. We present a case of acute renal failure secondary to
bilateral renal infltration of ALL presenting as the frst sign of relapse in a young man.
1. Introduction
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the second most com-
mon acute leukemia in adults with 75% of cases developing
from hematopoietic precursors of B-cell lineage [1]. Kidney
involvement and injury in leukemia can occur in a variety
of diferent ways such as prerenal acute kidney injury (AKI),
acute tubular necrosis (ATN), parenchymal infltration by
the tumor cells, renovascular diseases, obstruction, glomeru-
lonephritis, and electrolyte/acid-base disturbances [2]. AKI
secondary to infltration of ALL is rare, with renal failure
being even more rare [2]. Te following is a case of acute
renal failure secondary to difuse renal involvement by B-
cell ALL as the frst sign of relapse, successfully treated with
immunotherapy and steroids.
2. Case Presentation
A 37-year-old Hispanic male with a history of B-cell acute
lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) presented to the emergency
department with lef sided fank pain and hematuria. He was
previously treated with multiple lines of therapy including
several chemotherapy regimens with relapsed/refractory dis-
ease. He underwent CAR-T cell therapy in April 2017 and
achieved complete remission. He went on to have a mis-
matched allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant in
August 2017 which was complicated by E. coli bacteremia
and BK cystitis induced hematuria. Soon afer, he presented
to clinic with acute renal failure and had a ureteral stent
placed for lef hydronephrosis. Imaging at that time showed
symmetric enlargement and decreased density of the kidneys.
Serum BK/adenovirus studies were negative. Urine cytology
showed benign urothelial cells. Repeat bone marrow biopsy
at that time showed 80% cellularity with 80% lymphoblasts.
Te patient was started on Inotuzumab in March 2018. Repeat
bone marrow biopsy following cycle 1 showed no evidence of
residual B-cell ALL.
Te patient then presented to the emergency department
in May 2018 with lef sided fank pain and hematuria. Labora-
tory analysis demonstrated creatinine of 3.9 mg/dL compared
to a baseline of 0.6-0.9 mg/dL just 2 weeks earlier. Urinalysis
showed negative nitrites, negative leukocyte esterase, >500
protein, 6-10 WBC, 3-5 RBC, and few granular and hyaline
casts. Imaging at that time was unchanged from prior
Hindawi
Case Reports in Nephrology
Volume 2019, Article ID 7913027, 3 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/7913027