Can renal leukemic infiltration cause hypertension in children?

Out of 334 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were treated with St Jude Total XI and Total XIII chemotherapy protocols were investigated and 21 (6.3%) were hypertensive. The incidence of tumor lysis syndrome was higher in the hypertensive group than in the nonhypertensive group (28.6% vs. 11.5%) (P = 0.035). There were no differences between patients treated with high-dose methylprednisolone and prednisolone St Jude Total XI and Total XIII, St Jude Total XIII LR and St Jude Total XIII HR groups in respect of the above-mentioned parameters. Central nervous system involvement, skeletal system involvement, abdominal lymphadenopathy, elevated lactate dehydrogenase and leukocyte count, French-American-British types and immunophenotypes were not found to be statistically significant to the development of hypertension (P > 0.05). We found that renal leukemic infiltration is a risk factor in hypertension development (P = 0.04) and hypertension is a risk factor for renal parenchymal disorder in the follow-up period (P = 0.0001). Six patients presenting with hypertension in the first week of disease therapy were evaluated for renal parenchymal disorder and glomerular filtration rate abnormality in the follow-up period. Glomerular filtration rate abnormality was found in 1 and renal scintigraphic dimercaptosuccinic acid abnormalities (reduced uptake and dilated hypoactivity) were found in 4 patients. Hypertension was also found to be a risk factor for renal parenchymal disorder in the follow-up period.