Intussusception in Childhood Acute T Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia: An Unusual Complication - Report of 2 Cases.

Clinically significant gastrointestinal complications in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have been reported. However, intussusception is a very rare complication. In one study of 286 children with ALL gastrointestinal complications occurred in 5.6% of patients with intussusception seen in only 0.3% of patients. We describe two cases of intussusception during chemotherapy for T-cell leukemia. Patient #1 was an 8 year old girl on chemotherapy for T-cell ALL. Around week 9 following POG 9404 protocol of consolidation chemotherapy, patient presented with severe abdominal pain and vomiting, and had marked, diffuse tenderness of the abdomen with guarding and hypo-active bowel sounds. Abdominal radiograph showed thickening of the descending colon; abdominal sonogram was normal; abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan however, revealed a soft tissue and fluid-filled mass extending from the cecum to the descending colon. These findings were consistent with a large bowel intussusception, which was successfully reduced with a barium enema. Patient #2 was a 15 year old male receiving chemotherapy for T-cell ALL following POG 9404 protocol. At week 14 of consolidation chemotherapy, patient presented with a 2 day history of nausea and colicky peri-umbilical and right lower quadrant abdominal pain. An abdominal CT scan revealed an ileocolic intussusception without bowel obstruction and mild wall thickening of the cecum. Barium enema resulted in successful reduction of the intussusception. Interestingly, both our patients were treated with high dose methotrexate 5gm/m² during this time period and both experienced delayed excretion of methotrexate. To our knowledge, there is no known reported association between high dose methotrexate and intussusception. We speculate that the two could be related. The increased use of high dose methotrexate therapy in T-cell ALL may result in a higher incidence of intussusception in this population. Although, intussusception in ALL is a very rare complication, awareness of this entity and early recognition with radiological intervention may prevent unnecessary surgery and the associated morbidity and mortality in these patients.