Cardiac arrest associated with hyperkalemia during red blood cell transfusion is a rare but fatal complication. Herein, we report a case of transfusion-associated cardiac arrest following the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support in a 9-month old infant. Her serum potassium level was increased to 9.0 mEq/L, soon after the newly primed circuit with pre-stored red blood cell (RBC) was started and followed by sudden cardiac arrest. Eventually, circulation was restored and the potassium level decreased to 5.1 mEq/L after 5 min. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) priming is a relatively massive transfusion into a pediatric patient. Thus, to prevent cardiac arrest during blood-primed ECMO in neonates and infants, freshly irradiated and washed RBCs should be used when priming the ECMO circuit, to minimize the potassium concentration. Also, physicians should be aware of all possible complications associated with transfusions during ECMO.
Blood Transfusion ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Erythrocyte Transfusion ; Erythrocytes ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation* ; Heart Arrest* ; Humans ; Hyperkalemia* ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn ; Potassium

Cardiac arrest associated with hyperkalemia during red blood cell transfusion is a rare but fatal complication. Herein, we report a case of transfusion-associated cardiac arrest following the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support in a 9-month old infant. Her serum potassium level was increased to 9.0 mEq/L, soon after the newly primed circuit with pre-stored red blood cell (RBC) was started and followed by sudden cardiac arrest. Eventually, circulation was restored and the potassium level decreased to 5.1 mEq/L after 5 min. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) priming is a relatively massive transfusion into a pediatric patient. Thus, to prevent cardiac arrest during blood-primed ECMO in neonates and infants, freshly irradiated and washed RBCs should be used when priming the ECMO circuit, to minimize the potassium concentration. Also, physicians should be aware of all possible complications associated with transfusions during ECMO.
Blood Transfusion ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Erythrocyte Transfusion ; Erythrocytes ; Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Heart Arrest ; Humans ; Hyperkalemia ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Potassium

BACKGROUND: Impressive improvement of survival rate has been achieved in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In an effort to balance the risks and benefits of therapy, risk-stratified therapy has been adopted. The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment outcome of childhood ALL by risk stratification.METHODS: From 184 patients (age, <18 years) with ALL newly diagnosed at Chonnam National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital between 2000 and 2010, we retrospectively analyzed 157 patients. Patients with infant ALL, L3, Down syndrome, and those transferred to another hospital were excluded. Three risk groups were defined as standard risk (SR, n=88), high risk (HR, n=52) and very high risk (VHR, n=17).RESULTS: The 7-year overall survival and event-free survival (EFS) rates were 85.2+/-2.9% and 80.2+/-3.3%, respectively. The 7-year EFS rates were 86.5+/-3.9% for SR, 78.8+/-5.7% for HR and 52.9+/-12.1% for VHR (P<0.001). Relapse occurred in 17 patients, and the cumulative incidence of relapse at 7 years was not different according to risk groups (SR vs. HR vs. VHR=8.9% vs. 17.3% vs. 5.9%, P=0.171). Among relapsed patients, 11 underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation of whom 5 survive event-free with a median follow-up of 5.2 years. The cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality was highest in VHR (SR vs. HR vs. VHR=4.6% vs. 3.8% vs. 47.2%, P<0.001).CONCLUSION: Although, the number of patients included in this study is relatively small, the survival rates of childhood ALL with current strategies are encouraging. Also, efforts should be focused to further improve survival in the VHR, especially to reduce non-relapse mortality.
Adolescent ; Child ; Disease-Free Survival ; Down Syndrome ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Jeollanam-do ; Mortality ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Assessment ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome