[Clinical aspects of hairy cell leukemia and its modification by splenectomy]

From 1972 to 1981 10 patients with hairy cell leukaemia were observed in the Medical University Clinic Cologne, this represents 1.8% of all leukaemias. Typical clinical signs are splenomegaly, no or only slightly enlarged lymph nodes and a moderate hepatomegaly. Almost in all cases an anaemia, thrombocytopenia and neutropenia with lymphocytosis was found, mostly combined as pancytopenia. The pathognomonic tartrate resistant acid phosphatase was found in the hairy cells to a differing amount besides a fibrosis and a lymphatic infiltration of the bone marrow. A normalization of the anaemia, the thrombocytopenia and the neutropenia was reached by splenectomy, but the increased susceptibility to infections could not be affected significantly.