Case report: acute tumour lysis syndrome.

INTRODUCTION Acute tumour lysis syndrome (ATLS) is a potentially lethal but preventable complication of oncological treatment. CLINICAL PICTURE We report a case of a patient with Burkitt's leukaemia who developed ATLS after treatment with chemotherapy. TREATMENT Standard preventive measures using aggressive hydration, urine alkalinisation and uricosuric agents were instituted before chemotherapy. OUTCOME However in spite of adequate measures, the patient succumbed to the sequelae of ATLS. CONCLUSIONS It is therefore important to identify patients who are at a high risk of developing ATLS so that additional measures can be taken to prevent it from occurring.