ACUTE LEUKEMIAS IN EARLY INFANCY - A REPO RT OF 7 CASES

Background, - Acute leukemia in neonates is rare and is more severe th an leukemia in childhood. Population. - Seven cases (four girls, three boys) were included in this series. Leukemia was diagnosed at birth i n three cases; hepatosplenomegaly was seen in five cases and skin nodu les in three. Hyperleukocytosis more than 100,000/mm(3) was present in four cases; the NBC and differential counts were normal in two. A men ingeal involvement was seen in one case. The leukemia was lymphoblasti c (ALL) in three cases and myeloblastic (AML) in four. Intensive chemo therapy induced complete remission in five patients, persisting 5 and 4 years after the diagnosis in two. Classic risk factors such as high white blood counts, central nervous system involvement myeloblastic li neage, absence of CALLA (common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen) expression and abnormal blast cell caryotype interesting the 11q23 are a were found again in this series. Risks related to drug toxicities an d infectious complications were also noted in this series of very youn g patients. Conclusions, - The outcome may depend on progress in pharm acology, search for new drugs and use of bone marrow transplantation.