Prakriya doctors save cancer-hit boy with rare hereditary condition

Bengaluru: A 17-year-old boy, Akshay (name changed) diagnosed with a rare tumor of the ankle joint was undergoing chemotherapy to shrink the tumor prior to surgery.

A vein access device, chemo port, was implanted to allow the medications to be delivered without needle sticks. The doctors say it was inserted for the smooth conduct of chemotherapy.

However, in the middle of second chemo cycle, he started suffering from severe headache, body pain and fatigue resulting in low Red Blood Cells (RBC) count with hemoglobin (HB) dropping to 3.6 gm, way lower than the normal count of 14 gm.

In the alarming situation, Akshay was rushed to Prakriya Hospital for blood transfusion. He was diagnosed with mild jaundice. Finding it unusual to be seeing a sharp drop in hemoglobin level with normal White Blood Cells (WBC) and platelets count, the doctors sought previous medical history from the teen's parents.

It was during this time, the patient's family mentioned a rare hereditary condition called spherocytosis which was diagnosed two years earlier.

"People with this condition experience a shortage of RBC count, yellowing of the eyes and skin (jaundice), and an enlarged spleen (splenomegaly). The patient was also found to have infection over the chemo port insertion site. As he was suffering from fever, chemo port site infection was inspected and a blood cultures test was started. Patient was subjected to blood transfusion and put on intravenous antibiotics," Dr K R Madhav, Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist, Prakriya Hospital, said.

"The patient's blood culture test revealed a bacterial infection, staphylococcus aureus likely to be from the chemo port site. With the blood transfusion and antibiotics, infection settled and the patient's general condition improved. It was concluded that chemo port site infection precipitated the destruction of RBC causing dangerously low blood count in a rare genetic condition of blood. Timely diagnosis and treatment saved patients the same from serious health conditions," Dr Srinivas Chirukuri, Musculoskeletal Oncosurgeon, Prakriya Hospital told The Hans India.