title: Acute lymphocytic leukaemia presenting as a metabolic bone disease.
abstract: A 7-year-old boy presented with the acute onset of low backache of 2 months duration. An x-ray of thoracolumbar spine revealed multiple vertebral fractures, and biochemical evaluation showed hypercalcaemia with a suppressed parathyroid hormone which raised the possibilities of malignancy, granulomatous conditions or vitamin D toxicity. Despite the absence of blast cells in his blood, the bone marrow biopsy was unequivocally diagnostic of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: Suja P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sukumar
authors.forename: Karthik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Balachandran
authors.forename: Jaya Prakash
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sahoo
authors.forename: Sadishkumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kamalanathan
mesh_terms: D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis