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Safety of lumbar puncture for adults with acute leukemia and restrictive prophylactic platelet transfusion

Annals of Hematology volume 82, pages 570–573 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

No data exist on the trigger for platelet transfusions in adult thrombocytopenic patients with acute leukemia undergoing lumbar puncture (LP). We reviewed the records of 66 patients with acute leukemia (median age 38 years, range 18–68) who have been treated in our institution for 6 years. A total of 195 LPs were performed. No serious hemorrhagic complications occurred, but there was a significant trend towards a higher percentage of traumatic procedures, defined as the occurrence of >500 erythrocytes per high-power field, in patients with lowest platelet counts (p<0.005). Although not associated with serious clinical bleeding events in this study, the increased occurrence of traumatic procedures may indicate an increased risk for more serious hemorrhagic complications, implying a trigger not lower than 20×109/L for prophylactic transfusions of platelets in adult patients with acute leukemia undergoing LP.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Valentin Rousson, PhD, Department of Biostatistics, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland, for help with the statistical analysis.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 , Zurich, Switzerland

    Stephan R. Vavricka, Sarosh Irani, Joerg Halter & Urs Schanz

  2. Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Roland B. Walter

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  1. Stephan R. Vavricka
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  2. Roland B. Walter
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  3. Sarosh Irani
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  4. Joerg Halter
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  5. Urs Schanz
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Correspondence to Urs Schanz.

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Vavricka, S.R., Walter, R.B., Irani, S. et al. Safety of lumbar puncture for adults with acute leukemia and restrictive prophylactic platelet transfusion. Ann Hematol 82, 570–573 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-003-0707-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-003-0707-0

Keywords

  • Acute leukemia
  • Lumbar puncture
  • Safety
  • Platelets
  • Transfusion