Congenital Leukemoid Reaction Followed by Fatal Leukemia

Abstract

• A serial clinical, hematologic, and cytogenetic study was done on a baby with Down's syndrome in whom a myeloid leukemoid reaction developed at birth that spontaneously regressed within a month only to relapse two years later to an acute undifferentiated stem cell leukemia. He died 1½ months after onset. The unresolved controversy of the diagnosis of the congenital leukemia-like state is discussed. The importance of following up such patients with apparent remission of their congenital leukemia-like disorder is emphasized. (Am J Dis Child 134:939-941, 1980)