Cellular types in acute leukaemia: diagnosis and significance

Abstract

Two independent observers, one using hematological and the other histological methods, analyzed material from 68 patients with acute leukemia. A correct diagnosis of the cell type of leukemia was made in 70% of cases by hematological methods, and in 83% of those cases histological examination gave the same result. In two-thirds of the hematologically equivocal cases histological examination provided a positive diagnosis. The finally undiagnosed cases amounted to 12% of the total. The types so diagnosed could not be correlated with any clinical features. Differentiation of the cell types in acute leukemia showed that children with granulocytic types of acute leukemia survived for shorter periods than those with other types but in adults the type of cell had no significance when related to survival. In adults the immediate prognosis for all cell types was relatively bad. The unfavorable prognosis attached to a high initial leukocyte count was confirmed.