title: Spinal cord compression as the initial presentation of acute biphenotypic leukaemia.
abstract: Acute biphenotypic leukaemia (BAL) is an uncommon haematological malignancy with features of myeloid and lymphoid origin and poor overall prognosis. We report a 68-year-old man who presented with rapidly progressive upper thoracic spinal cord compression secondary to an extradural lesion. A T2-3 decompressive laminectomy with tumour excision was performed. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of acute biphenotypic (B/myeloid) leukaemia. The patient had only minor post-operative improvement in pyramidal lower limb weakness. He succumbed to the disease three months post-diagnosis after failing induction chemotherapy. While central nervous system involvement with acute leukaemia is well recognised, this is the first reported patient with spinal cord compression secondary to this leukaemia subtype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia. jdimou13@hotmail.com
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dimou
authors.forename: Rondhir
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jithoo
authors.forename: Alpha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Morokoff
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051925:CD79 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy / Q000379:methods; D015456:Leukemia, Biphenotypic, Acute / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D051925:CD79 Antigens; D009195:Peroxidase