Intravascular leukostasis and systemic aspergillosis in a horse with subleukemic acute myelomonocytic leukemia

Leukemia is a neoplastic disease of one or more of the cell types of the hemopoietic system and is rarely diagnosed in the horse. This report describes a case of subleukemic acute myelomonocytic leukemia in an 11-year-old gelding. Preliminary cytological diagnosis was supported by two types of laboratory investigations. Cytochemical characterization of blood and bone marrow neoplastic cells was consistent with a myelomonocytic origin. Neoplastic blast cells in peripheral blood were labeled by monoclonal antibodies specific for cell surface molecules of horse granulocytes, but they were not labeled by antibodies to T- or B-lymphocytes or macrophages. Treatment was attempted but was unsuccessful. At necropsy, intravascular leukostasis was present in all tissues examined. Fungal hyphae were also found in lung interstitium and colonic submucosa, suggesting the presence of a systemic mycosis. Nucleated cells were isolated from peripheral blood and cultured in vitro; they survived for up to 2 weeks and had evidence of cell division that was not sustained. Frozen-thawed cells stored in liquid nitrogen were also successfully cultured in vitro, but no permanent cell lines could be established.