title: [Musculoskeletal pain: a common initial sign of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia].
abstract: Musculoskeletal pain is a common complaint in paediatrics usually due to benign diseases. Nevertheless neoplasms, particularly acute leukaemia, must be considered in the differential diagnosis. During the last 9 months 4 of the 9 patients diagnosed with acute leukaemia at our hospital presented with a limp, arthralgias, lumbar or bony pain. We describe these cases and review the clinical and analytical parameters that help to differentiate benign pain from that associated with a malignant disease. The early detection of these processes may represent a significant improvement in their prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Sección de Reumatología Infantil, Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Doce de Octubre, Madrid, España. rocapi@telefonica.net
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Casado Picón
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barrios López
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Inocencio Arocena
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baro Fernández
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vivanco Martínez
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009141:Musculoskeletal System; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*