Yonsei Med J.  2010 May;51(3):460-462. 10.3349/ymj.2010.51.3.460.

A Case of Type B Lactic Acidosis in Acute Leukemia

• Lee HS
• Kim HJ
• Choi S
• Kim CK
• Lee NS
• Lee KT
• Won JH
• Park HS
• Hong DS

• KMID: 1075003
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2010.51.3.460

Abstract

Type B lactic acidosis is a rare condition in patients with solid tumors or hematological malignancies. Although there have been several theories to explain its mechanism, the exact cause of lactic acidosis remains to be discovered. Lactic acidosis is usually related to increased tumor burden in patients with malignancy. We experienced a case of lactic acidosis in a 39-year-old man who visited an emergency room because of dyspnea, and the cause of lactic acidosis turned out to be recurrent acute leukemia. Chemotherapy relieved the degree of lactic acidosis initially, but as the disease progressed, lactic acidosis became aggravated. Type B lactic acidosis can be a clinical presentation of acute exacerbation of acute leukemia.

Keyword

Lactic acidosis; leukemia

MeSH Terms

Acidosis, Lactic/*diagnosis/etiology
Acute Disease
Adult
Humans
Leukemia/*complications
Male

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Change of blood lactic acid level after chemotherapy. Blood lactic acid level decreased as the patient responded to chemotherapy.

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