PHILADELPHIA NEGATIVE BCR-ABL POSITIVE CHRONIC MYELOID-LEUKEMIA MIMICKING JUVENILE CHRONIC MYELOID-LEUKEMIA IN A 2-YEAR-OLD CHILD

We present the case of a two-year-old child with an atypical presentat ion of chronic myeloid leukemia. At diagnosis, he showed clinical and biological features of juvenile chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Howeve r, eosinophilia was observed in blood and bone marrow. The bone marrow karyotype did riot demonstrate the Philadelphia chromosome but BCR-AB L rearrangement was shown to be present by reverse transcriptase polym erase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis, Discussion centres on the differe ntiation between juvenile CML and childhood chronic myelogenous Leukem ia and the importance of carrying out RT PCR for all juvenile CML case s.