[Clinical and pathological analysis of patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia and long survival]

Investigations were carried out on 261 patients with chronic lymphatic leukaemia with survival over 4 years. The following problems were discussed: age and sex of patients, presenting symptoms, organ changes, laboratory investigations, infectious complications, coexistence of malignant tumours. Correlations were established between various parameters and the length of survival. It was demonstrated that patients without palpable lymph nodes and spleen at the beginning of the diseases and with leucocyte counts ranging from 10,000 to 100,000/1 mm-3 have a better prognosis, while thrombocytopenia even without haemorrhagic diathesis is a poor prognostic sign. Infections were observed in 50 percent of cases, more frequently in patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia. Coexistence of malignant tumours was found in 5.4 percent of cases. Pathological examinations including organ biopsy and autopsy failed to demonstrate characteristic features of lymphatic system proliferation as compared with patients with short survival.