Reticulated platelet monitoring after autologous peripheral haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation.

Reticulated platelets are the youngest marker of megakaryopoiesis. We monitored 13 haematological patients undergoing autologous peripheral haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation. We used a flow cytometric method based on thiazole orange platelet staining. Patients showed a fall in reticulated platelet percentage at a mean of 5 days before a nadir of the platelet count. In all cases, platelet recovery is preceded by a rise of reticulated platelets; in 10 cases patients received platelet prophylactic transfusions after RP rise. The rise in reticulated platelets is an early sign of engraftment and may represent an easy parameter for transfusion management of transplanted patients.

Transient myeloproliferative syndrome/transient acute myeloid leukemia in a newborn with Down syndrome: a case report and literature review.

We report the case of a newborn with Down syndrome (DS) associated with transient acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The leukemic presentation resolved spontaneously without treatment just 4 weeks after birth. An abnormal hematopoietic function is a well-known characteristic of DS; however, acute leukemia is rare in newborns with this genetic disorder. The presence of peripheral blast cells matched generally by an equivalent quantity in the bone marrow may be considered a true leukemia that, although transient, may predict the development of a generally megakaryoblastic AML within the first few years of life. This leukemia is not transient and must be treated accordingly. The cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities involving DS chromosome 21 in leukemogenesis in these patients are not well understood. In DS, AML, transient or not, generally shows cytogenetic and molecular aspects that differ from those of adult acute leukemias.