Acute myeloid leukemia
1. Big picture
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an acute malignant clonal proliferation of immature myeloid cells, usually myeloblasts, in the bone marrow and blood.
The exam pattern is:
Older patient + fatigue + fever/infections + petechiae/bleeding + anemia/thrombocytopenia ± high WBC + blasts/Auer rods → think AML.
The key danger is that AML can kill quickly through:
- bone marrow failure → infection, anemia, bleeding
- hyperleukocytosis/leukostasis → respiratory or neurological emergency
- tumor lysis syndrome
- disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), especially acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
The Debrecen hematology textbook describes AML as a clonal malignant disease of myeloid-committed progenitor cells, rapidly fatal without treatment, and composed of immature myeloblasts; in adults, AML represents about 70–80% of acute leukemias and incidence increases with age.
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