AUTOIMMUNE COMPLICATIONS IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA: A SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the progressive accumulation of B cells with mature appearance and a distinctive immunophenotype in peripheral blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes and other lymphoid tissues. Autoimmune complications are common in CLL and by far the most common manifestation is autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), followed by immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and pure red cell aplasia (PRCA). The study was carried was carried out to see the spectrum of autoimmune complications in patients diagnosed with CLL. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out to describe the clinical presentation, haematological parameters and complications of CLL in patients coming to Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH), Lahore over a period of 6 years from June 2002 to July 2008. CLL cases were diagnosed according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) criteria. The collected data was entered into SPSS version 13 for analysis. Results: Thirty one patients were diagnosed with CLL and in 6 (19.4%) patients the disease was complicated by AIHA and in 1 (3.2%) patient by ITP at presentation. Conclusion: Autoimmune cytopenias were observed in 22% of 31 patients. Autoimmune hemolytic anaemia was more common than ITP, no patients of PRCA were recognized.