Severe hypercalcaemia in an infant

MARTÍN, MARÍA JULIA; MAURY FUENTES, KELLY; NOVOA DÍAZ, MARÍA BELÉN; CAO, GABRIEL; GIGOLA, GRACIELA; BRUNETTO, OSCAR; GENTILI, CLAUDIA

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PATHOLOGY

B M J PUBLISHING GROUP

Año: 2021 vol. 74 p. 355 - 357

0021-9746

Take home messages► Epithelioid haemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a difficult tumour to diagnose. It can affect children and is not frequently found in the abdominal region. CT, histological evaluation and immunohistochemical analysis of key molecular markers are useful in making the diagnosis of EHE.► Hypercalcaemia associated with malignancy is rarely found in childhood.► The abnormal production of parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) by EHE can induce hypercalcaemia but this is extremely uncommon.► Although a standard systemic treatment for malignant EHE associated with hypercalcaemia in a paediatric patient has not been fully established, prognosis may improve after complete surgical excision of the tumour.► The assessment of PTHrP concentrations is possible by the implementation of molecular biology techniques such as realtime quantitative reverse transcription PCR and western blot.