The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2013 , Vol 55 , Num 4
Fat Necrosis of Transverse Colon and Necrotizing Pancreatitis in a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL): Cause of Massive Ascites and High Fever
Divisions of 2Pediatric Hematology, and 5Pediatric Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, and Departments of
1Pediatric Surgery, 3Pathology, and 4Radiology, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
E-mail: tugba_acer@yahoo.com
We report a nine-year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia L3 (ALL-L3)
and necrotizing pancreatitis in which necrosis was not limited to the pancreas.
As our patient had a defective inflammatory process as a result of underlying
malignant disease and neutropenia, the peripancreatic collection could not
be limited and no pseudocyst was formed. In our patient, the unlimited
inflammatory process and pancreatic secretions infiltrated the transverse
mesocolon and transverse colon, leading to fat necrosis of the transverse
colon, causing massive ascites and high fever. As there was no response to
medical treatment, the success was achieved only by surgical resection. The
infiltration of surrounding tissue and nearby organs by inflammation and
fat necrosis in necrotizing pancreatitis has not been reported previously in
a pediatric patient.
Keywords :
acute lymphoblastic leukemia, necrotizing pancreatitis, transverse colon,
massive ascites, high fever, fat necrosis.