Clinico-Radio-Pathologic Correlation of Leukostasis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia with FLT3 Mutation

The systemic complications of acute hematologic emergencies account for the high mortality rates seen during inpatient management. Perhaps the most challenging diagnostic entity among all hematologic emergencies is leukostasis. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myeloid blasts are often highly adherent to the endothelial vasculature, and high peripheral blood blast count in excess of 100,000 cells per microliter can predispose patients to pulmonary and neurologic complications, leading to rapid clinical deterioration even before a formal diagnosis of leukostasis is made. The mobilization of appropriate healthcare personnel in the inpatient setting at inopportune times sometimes poses a major barrier to the successful treatment of patients with leukostasis, and patients can pass away quickly. In this report, we describe clinico-radio-pathologic correlations of leukostasis using pre- and post-mortem analysis in a patient with AML with a FLT3-TKD mutation, and we describe the current literature on best management approaches based on recent evidence, including consideration of first-line FLT3 (CD135) inhibitors such as quizartinib.