MEDICINE Study Guide - Final Guide: Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, Lymphoid Leukemia

• School: Kerala University of Health Sciences - KUHS
• Department: Psychology
• Course: MEDICINE

Document Summary

Leukemia is a disease characterized by the progressive overproduction of white blood cells which usually appear in the circulating blood in an immature form. This proliferation of white blood cells or their precursors occurs in such an uncoordinated and independent fashion. Leukemia is generally considered a true malignant neoplasm, since the disease is so often fatal. This classification may be modified to indicate the course of the disease by application of the terms acute", subacute", and chronic". The development of acute leukemia is sudden, characterized by weakness. Petechial or ecchymotic hemorrhages in the skin and mucous membranes and. The lymphadenopathy is often the first sign of the disease, In most of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, cervical lymph nodes are palpable before diagnosis and treatment of the disease have been established. Numerous organs, such as the spleen, liver and kidney, become enlarged, owing to leukemic infiltration, especially in cases of long duration.