Medical Case Reports

Hairy Cell Leukemia - Case Reports

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a lympho-proliferative disease with an indolent course that is located within the group of mature B-cells neoplasias. It represents 2 to 3% of all leukemias types, with an estimated incidence of 600 and 1600 cases per year in the United States and Europe, respectively. It is characterized by persistent bicytopenia and splenomegaly. We present two cases of different gender, treated at Hospital Escuela Universitario located in the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with clinic symptoms marked by weight loss and chronic fatigue. Hematological tests indicated pancytopenia and an abdominal ultrasound splenomegaly; followed by bone marrow biopsy that morphologically suggested hairy cells. Flow cytometry analysis, determined the diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia, that was treated with interferon and rituximab (in one of the cases), with a satisfactory clinical outcome. HCL diagnosis is sometimes difficult, because it is a disease with an indolent course and is often confused with other lympho-proliferative processes. Patients have a good prognosis and clinical improvement if the disease is detected and treated early. Here we present the sequence of events with their results and a literature review.

Author(s):

Karla Hernández-Ruano, Diana Morales-Santos, Polet Portillo-Cálix, Jorge Escoto- Theodoracopoulos and Cristian Alvarado-Medina

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