Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Atra Syndrome

Dr. Asch came into day to talk to us. Jose has been having symptoms of Atra syndrome. He had an unexplained fever early this morning. Running about 101.6. The doctor said if he has another one they will be taking him down for a chest x-ray and doing blood cultures to see what is going on. If those come back inconclusive. They will then start him on a steriod dexamethasone to treat it. They are pretty sure that this is what is going on. He has been having a super red face, headaches, and now the fever.
It is basically caused by pathophysiologic consequences result from the release of inflammatory cytokines from malignant promyelocytes. In other words the baby blood cells that are cancerous with graunuals are tricked into becoming mature blood cells. When this happens those granules are released into the blood stream and build up. Causing unexplained fevers, red face, headaches, and can cause fluid to build up in the lungs. Luckily we have not seen any breathing problems. Jose's levels are still staying the same. We have seen no improvement in him producing his own blood cells.

No comments: