Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40520658›Full record

ArticleBiochemia medica2025

An unusual case of neuroblastoma presenting with prolonged watery diarrhea in a pediatric patient.

Claire Claeyssens, Peter Witters, Heidi Segers, Jan De Koster, Elena Levtchenko, Pieter Vermeersch

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Article in Biochemia medica, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Claire ClaeyssensClinical Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Peter WittersClinical Department of Pediatrics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Heidi SegersClinical Department of Pediatrics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Jan De KosterClinical Department of Pediatrics, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium.
Elena LevtchenkoClinical Department of Pediatrics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Pieter VermeerschClinical Department of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neuroblastomas represent a diverse group of neuroblastic tumors characterized by variability in their clinical progression and degree of differentiation. In rare cases, patients with neuroblastoma may present with paraneoplastic syndromes, such as watery diarrhea, hypokalemia, and achlorhydria (WDHA syndrome), linked to the secretion of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). We report a case of a 14-month-old girl presented with a three-week history of watery diarrhea and signs of dehydration with no other symptoms. The patient's medical history was unremarkable, and no medication use was reported. Venous blood gas analysis revealed a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis with severe hypokalemia. The patient was referred to our hospital 48 hours post-admission due to persistent hypokalemic metabolic acidosis, unresponsive to intravenous fluid therapy. The primary causes of normal anion gap metabolic acidosis in young children are gastrointestinal bicarbonate loss due to diarrhea and renal bicarbonate loss. Semi-quantitative urine organic acid analysis, reported 48 hours after admission, revealed increased vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) (89 mmol/mol creatinine) and homovanillic acid (HVA) (21 mmol/mol creatinine), raising the suspicion of a neuroblastoma. Subsequent analysis of an acidified urine sample confirmed a more than threefold increase in VMA, HVA, normetanephrine, norepinephrine, and 3-methoxytyramine concentrations. In addition, VIP was markedly elevated (1994 ng/L) in a blood sample. The diagnosis of neuroblastoma was confirmed through imaging and histological examination. This case illustrates that chronic diarrhea with metabolic dysregulation (

Indexed as

DiarrheaNeuroblastomaFemaleHomovanillic AcidHumansInfantVanilmandelic AcidVasoactive Intestinal PeptideHomovanillic AcidVanilmandelic AcidVasoactive Intestinal Peptideacidosiscatecholamineshyperaldosteronismhypokalemianeuroblastoma

Identifiers

PMID40520658
PMCPMC12161515

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.