Abstract

The outcome of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has remained a major concern in low- and middle-income countries. It is envisaged that the outcome will be far worse in resource limited settings. However, studies are lacking and many of these low-income countries lack an effective cancer registry. The study was conducted to assess the socio-demographics, clinical patterns and induction outcomes of children with AML. All bone marrow confirmed pediatric AML patients less than 15 years old who took induction chemotherapy was recruited and data was collected in a cross-sectional method. Among the 38-bone marrow confirmed pediatric AML patients, 33 patients took induction chemotherapy and 22 (66.7%) achieved complete remission (CR). Infectious morbidity occurred in 60.6% followed by tumor lysis syndrome in 6.1% and induction mortality occurred in 30.3%. The study found a slight male predominance with the mean age of patients being 8.003 ±3.76 SD years and with a range of 5months-15 years. Fatigue was the most common presenting symptom. The median white blood cell, hemoglobin and platelet count were 39.2 ×103 /mm3, 6.65 g/dl and 25.5× 103/mm3 respectively. A positive correlation between platelet count, FAB classification, nutritional status, age, hemoglobin concentration and induction outcome were found. Late presentation to the haemato-oncologist was observed in our study. Health care professionals should suspect acute leukemia and refer them early for appropriate level of care. Most children achieved complete remission, but it was complicated by high induction mortality and infectious morbidity. Induction and post-induction supportive care is highly recommended for better outcome.

Key words: Pediatric AML, Child, Ethiopia, Induction outcome, Clinical characteristics