LEUKAEMIC INVOLVEMENT OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Eighty two patients of leukaemia consisting of 25 cases of acute lymphocytic leukaemia, 38 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia, 14 cases of chronic myeloid leukaemia and 5 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were evaluated for central nervous system (CNS) involvement. Speech disorders, cranial nerve palsies, encephalopathy, ataxia, intracranial haemorrhage, peripheral neuropathy and spinal cord involvement were the main neurological findings detected in 23 (28.1%) cases. All except one were subjected to autopsy after death. Leukaemic infiltrations (36.6%) and intracranial haemorrhage (26.8%) were the prominent CNS autopsy findings. In addition, demyelination with astrocytosis (9.7%) and gliosis (2.4%) were seen. In all, 45 (54.9%) of the patients showed CNS involvement at autopsy. Thus a large number of CNS lesions were missed clinically and detected only on autopsy.