Acute megakaryoblastic leukemia in one cat and two dogs

The clinical, hematologic, and histologic features of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia are described for an 8-year-old female Domestic Shorthair cat, a 3-year-old female mixed-breed dog, and a 3-year-old male German Shepherd Dog. The neoplastic cells were characterized as belonging to the megakaryocytic lineage. The following techniques were used: electron microscopy; detection of antibodies against human von Willebrand factor (vWF) and human platelet glycoprotein GP IIIa using a modified avidin biotin peroxidase complex technique on formalin-fixed paraffin sections; and enzyme histochemical methods on plastic sections for alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, myeloperoxidase, alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase, alpha-naphthyl butyrate esterase, naphthol AS acetate esterase, and naphthol AS-D chloroacetate esterase. In addition, benign megakaryocytic cells, platelets, and neoplastic cells were labeled with lectins that have partially been shown to bind to platelet glycoproteins of other species. In healthy cats and dogs, the megakaryocytes and platelets reacted with lectins PSA, LCA, PHA-L, and WGA. Megakaryocytes and platelets from healthy cats were also labeled by lectin PNA. The lectins PHA-L and WGA reacted with neoplastic cells from the cat and both dogs. Lectin PNA bound to neoplastic cells from the cat, and lectins PSA, LCA, and SBA bound to neoplastic cells from both dogs. For the retrospective examination of paraffin-embedded material, the detection of vWF and GP IIIa appears to be the most reliable method for the identification of megakaryocytic cells.