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Undiagnosed adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in central Brooklyn, NY
S L Welles1, H Dosik, E Joseph
1Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA.
Abstract:
We present a case, identified by surveillance for adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), who had initial symptoms not specifically related to ATL, and who would not have been identified as having ATL otherwise. A 51-year-old Trinidadian black woman was hospitalized for abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Hematology and clinical chemistry revealed leukocytosis (19,600/mm3), an elevated lymphocyte percent (63%), and hypercalcemia (19.4 mg/dl). The patient was serologically confirmed with HTLV-I-associated ATL. Lymphoma was diagnosed at autopsy. This case is representative of ATL, which along with HTLV-I infection, may be emerging public health problems in urban communities of the northeast and southeast United States.