title: Extramedullary acute myeloid leukemia: leukemic pleural effusion, case report and review of the literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Malignant pleural effusions occur in the setting of both solid and hematologic malignancies. Pleural effusion caused by leukemic infiltration is an unusual extramedullary manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with fewer than 20 cases reported (1-11). We report a case of pericardial and pleural effusions in a patient with AML and review the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this case, a 55-year-old man with previous history of myeloproliferative neoplasm experienced transformation AML, heralded by appearance of leukemic pleural effusions. The patient was identified to have leukemic pleural effusion based on the extended cytogenetic analysis of the pleural fluid, as morphologic analysis alone was insufficient.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patient was treated with hypomethylator-based and intensive chemotherapy strategies, both of which maintained resolution of the effusions in the remission setting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Due to the rarity of diagnosis of leukemic pleural effusions, both cytogenetic and fluorescence in situ hybridization testing are recommended. Furthermore, systemic chemotherapy directed at the AML can lead to complete resolution of leukemic pleural effusions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pemmaraju
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Naval
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Daver
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Keyur
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jorgensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Bradley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sabloff
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Srdan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verstovsek
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center , Houston, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Gautam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borthakur
keywords: acute myeloid leukemia; extramedullary AML; malignant pleural effusion