[Patient's age as a risk factor for central nervous system involvement in chronic myeloid leukemia]

Clinical and neuropathological examinations were carried out in 32 cases of chronic myeloid leukaemia dying in the blast phase. The hypothesis is put forward that in chronic myeloid leukaemia lower age of the patient (below 45 years) is a risk factor for development of central nervous system involvement which may be related possibly to high leucocytosis occurring more frequently in these cases in the blast phase leading to leucostasis and leukaemic infiltrations in the brain. The duration of the chronic phase and blast phase, and the pattern of leucocytosis in the chronic phase were similar in younger and older patients.