Leukemic Reticuloendotheliosis: A Defined Syndrome of an Ill Defined Cell

Abstract

Leukemic reticuloendotheliosis (LRE) is a term originally used by Ewald in 1923.¹ As so often happens in medicine, the original paper described a patient whose disease would probably now be classified as acute monocytic leukemia. The clinical disorder now known as LRE was characterized in the classic paper of Bouroncle et al. in 1958, and included a description of the unusual morphology of the malignant cells.² These cells have a serrated border in histologic sections and unique cytoplasmic extensions (pseudopods) in supravital preparations, which led to the commonly used label of "hairy" cells.³ The "hairy" cell was originally thought to . . .