A two year old boy is being seen through a hematologist. The child's symptoms include the sudden onset of high fevers, thrombocytopenia, epistaxis, gingival bleeding, petechiae, and ecchymoses after minor traumas. The physician has ordered a bone marrow aspiration to confirm the clinical diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia. If the diagnosis is positive, the child will be placed immediately on intensive chemotherapy. The physician has informed the parents that treatment produces remission in 90% of children with ALL, especially those between the ages of 2 and 8.
Questions
1. What pathological condition does the hematologist suspect? Look this condition up in a reference source and include a short description of it.
2. List and define each of the patient's presenting symptoms in your own words. Note, these terms may not be in your book so you may need to look them up using an internet resource. Just reference the internet resource that you use.
3. What diagnostic test did the physician perform? Describe what it is in your own words.
4. Explain the term "clinical diagnosis" in your own words.
5. If the suspected diagnosis is correct, explain the treatment that will begin.
6. What do you think the term "remission" means.