Arthroscopic treatment for an osteochondral defect of the talus after necrosis associated with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a case report

Team approach: Management of osteonecrosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

With current treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the overall prognosis for survival is favorable. Increasing emphasis is placed on recognizing and managing the long-term consequences of ALL and its treatment, particularly involving osteonecrosis. Early osteonecrosis diagnosis and management may improve outcomes and is best accomplished through coordinated teams that may include hematologic oncologists, radiologists, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, and the patient and their family. Magnetic resonance imaging is the "gold standard" for diagnosis of early-stage and/or multifocal osteonecrosis. Treatments for osteonecrosis in ALL patients are risk stratified and may include observation, corticosteroid or chemotherapy adjustment, and pharmaceutical or surgical approaches.

Management and treatment of osteonecrosis in children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

There is no consensus regarding how to manage osteonecrosis in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients. Therefore, we performed a quality assessment of the literature with the result of a search strategy using the MESH terms osteonecrosis, children, childhood cancer, surgery, bisphosphonates, 6 hydroxymethyl-glutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors, anticoagulants and hyperbaric oxygen, and terms related to these MESH terms. A randomized controlled trial showed that osteonecrosis can be prevented by intermittent, instead of continuous, corticosteroid administration. The studies on interventions after onset of osteonecrosis were of low-quality evidence. Seven pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia studies described non-surgical interventions; bisphosphonates (n=5), hyperbaric oxygen therapy (n=1), or prostacyclin analogs (n=1). Safety and efficacy studies are lacking. Five studies focused on surgical interventions; none was of sufficient quality to draw definite conclusions. In conclusion, preventing osteonecrosis is feasible in a proportion of the pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients by discontinuous, instead of continuous, steroid scheduling. The questions as to how to treat childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with osteonecrosis cannot be answered as good-quality studies are lacking.