Leukostasis retinopathy: An uncommon visual threatening complication of chronic myeloid leukemia with severe hyperleukocytosis - A case report and review of the literature.

To describe a rare case of an unusual visual threatening complication of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). A 21-year-old male visited the hospital complaining of 1-week painless binocular acute visual loss without any other symptoms. The patient was diagnosed with CML. He then received emergent leukapheresis with imatinib treatment, which achieved obvious hematological remission. However, the visual acuity did not recover along with the CML remission and ocular structure relief. CML-related leukostasis could induce severe leukostasis retinopathy. Hematologists and ophthalmologists should pay more attention to this relatively rare and severe complication of CML.

Management of life-threatening pulmonary leukostasis with single agent imatinib mesylate during CML myeloid blast crisis.

Pulmonary leukostasis is a rare but serious and often fatal complication of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in blast crisis and acute myeloid leukemia. Treatment options are limited for these patients. Imatinib mesylate (STI-571, Gleevec, Novartis) is a potent and selective inhibitor of the BCR-abl tyrosine kinase, the molecular abnormality that causes CML. The case of a 74-year-old man with a history of CML who presented in myeloid blast crisis with pulmonary leukostasis characterized by increasing dyspnea, hypoxemia, fever, and impending respiratory failure is reported. The patient was treated with single agent imatinib mesylate (IM) with rapid decrease in his white blood cell count (WBC) and marked improvement in his respiratory status. No electrolyte abnormalities consistent with tumor lysis syndrome were observed. IM may be an effective single agent therapy for pulmonary leukostasis in patients with CML blast crisis who are at the risk for tumor lysis.

[Chemically-induced paraneoplastic hyperleukocytic lung]. / Poumon hyperleucocytaire paranéoplasique chimio-induit.

Dyspnea is the principal clinical feature of pulmonary leukostasis, a syndrome called "poumon hyperleucocytaire" in French. It is a common complication of chronic myeloid leukemia. In the course of pulmonary carcinoma, leukocytosis is frequently noted. One of the etiologies is a paraneoplastic syndrome with production of colony stimulating factor. We report a case of pulmonary hyperleukostasis following antineoplastic chemotherapy for pulmonary carcinoma.

Pulmonary leukostasis: role of perfusion lung scan in diagnosis and follow up.

A patient with hyperleukocytic myelomonocytic leukemia who presented to the emergency room with sudden pleuritic chest pain and dyspnea is reported. Clinical manifestations included dyspnea tachypnea and hyperventilation. Blood gas analysis revealed hypoxemia, hypocarbia, and respiratory alkalosis. Chest X ray was normal, and perfusion lung scan revealed a diffuse vascular occlusive pattern compatible with pulmonary leukostasis. The patient underwent immediate leukapheresis with subsequent mitigation of symptoms. A second perfusion lung scan showed evidence of significant improvement. To our knowledge this is the first published case of hyperleukocytosis presenting with pulmonary leukostasis that was successfully diagnosed and followed by serial perfusion lung scan.