Identification of SPAG9 as a novel JAK2 fusion partner gene in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia with t(9;17)(p24;q21).

We have identified a novel SPAG9-JAK2 fusion in a B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with t(9;17)(p24;q21) and a poor outcome, using paired-end transcriptome sequencing. Homozygous and hemizygous deletions of CDKN2A/2B, and hemizygous deletions of PAX5, BTG1, CDK6, ADARB2, and IKZF1 were also identified by multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification and single nucleotide polymorphism array analyses. Having both a tyrosine kinase-activating rearrangement and genomic lesions affecting lymphoid transcription factors suggested that the leukemia was of the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)/BCR-ABL1-like ALL subtype and that JAK2 inhibitors might be able to overcome this aggressive ALL with SPAG9-JAK2.

FLT3-internal tandem duplication in a pediatric patient with t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia.

Patients diagnosed with t(8;21)-acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are currently considered to have good prognoses, but about half of these patients relapse. FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD) is generally thought to be strongly associated with poor prognosis in AML, but is rarely reported in patients with t(8;21)-AML. Expression of the neural cell-adhesion molecule (CD56) is also associated with a significantly shorter complete remission duration and survival in patients with t(8;21)-AML.

Mutations of GATA1, FLT3, MLL-partial tandem duplication, NRAS, and RUNX1 genes are not found in a 7-year-old Down syndrome patient with acute myeloid leukemia (FAB-M2) having a good prognosis.

The prognosis of leukemia developed in Down syndrome (DS) patients has improved markedly. Most DS leukemia occurs before 3 years of age and is classified as acute megakaryocytic leukemia (AMKL). Mutations in the GATA1 gene have been found in almost all DS patients with AMKL.

[Acute urinary retention secondary to aseptic meningoencephalitis in an infant--case report].

We report the case of a 21-month-old boy with urinary retention secondary to aseptic meningitis. After high fever for 10 days, appetite loss, somnolence, acute transient urinary retention, constipation and mild dysesthesia in bilateral lower limbs developed. Brisk reflexes were present in the lower extremities along with a positive Babinski reflex.