Citogenetics and citochemistry of leukemia patients in two neotropical hospitals

A cytogenetic and/or cytochemical study was performed in 166 individuals wi th leukemia or related disorders, in two major Costa Rican hospitals. In th ose patients treated at an adult's hospital (14 years old and over), acute leukemias represented 66% of all cases. In that hospital the most frequent types of disorders were, in decreasing order: ANLL (> M1), ALL, CML (all of them showed the Ph chromosome) and MDS. In the cases from a childrens' hos pital (< 14 years old) acute leukemias were 98%. Among them the order of fr equency was: ALL (70%): ALL-1(84%), ALL-2(16%) and ANLL (27%): M5a > M3 > M 4 > M5b. In ALL 85% were type B and occurred mostly in women while 15% of t hem were type T and more frequent in males. There was 5.6% infant leukemia, which presented a similar number of acute lymphoids and myeloids. The cyto genetic pattern was similar among Costa Pica and other tropical and tempera te countries.