Abstract
Acute basophilic leukemia (ABL) is a rare and poorly characterized form of leukemia. The case of a 65-year-old male who complained of dizziness, maculopapular skin lesions and melena is described in the current report. A gastroscopy was conducted and indicated a gastric antral ulcer. The diagnosis of ABL was determined due to characteristic cytomorphological features, the myeloid immunophenotype of the blast cells (identified to be positive for cluster of differentiation [CD]25 and CD123) in addition to the absence of the Philadelphia chromosome and a c-kit D816V mutation. The patient initially demonstrated clinical improvement as a result of chemotherapy, however, subsequently deteriorated. The gastric and skin manifestations of ABL may be associated with excessive histamine release from basophilic cells. Thus, the administration of H1- and H2-receptor antagonists, proton pump inhibitors and steroids is proposed in order to minimize these associated complications.
Highlights
Acute basophilic leukemia (ABL) is a rare hematologic malignancy that is currently poorly described
It was hypothesized that the patient described in the present case was diagnosed with de novo ABL due to the negative results that were obtained from assessing the BCR‐ABL transcripts and because there were no previous events that were indicative of a blood count abnormality
De novo ABL was first described by Wick et al [3] and similar cases have subsequently been reported by others [4,5]
Summary
Acute basophilic leukemia (ABL) is a rare hematologic malignancy that is currently poorly described. The case of an elderly male who presented with ABL, as well as a gastric antral ulcer and maculopapular rashes is described.
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