Intractable pruritus in chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes: a case series

• Published in: BMJ case reports Vol. 12; no. 10; p. e232480
• Main Authors: Ceesay, M Mansour, Basu, Tanya N, du Vivier, Anthony, Mufti, Ghulam J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01.10.2019; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Case report
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Blood tests; Bone marrow; Case reports; Chemotherapy; Dermatitis; Disease Progression; Fatal Outcome; Female; Findings That Shed New Light on the Possible Pathogenesis of a Disease or an Adverse Effect; Granulocytes; Humans; Infections; Leukemia; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic - complications; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic - diagnosis; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic - drug therapy; Male; Multiple sclerosis; Myelodysplastic syndromes; Myelodysplastic Syndromes - complications; Myelodysplastic Syndromes - drug therapy; Neutrophils; Pathogenesis; Patients; Pruritus; Pruritus - drug therapy; Pruritus - etiology; Severity of Illness Index; Skin diseases; malignant and benign haematology; dermatology; haematology (incl blood transfusion)

Intractable pruritus without visible primary skin lesions and refractory to antihistamines as a primary presentation of chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is not well recognised. We present two cases of CMML and two cases of MDS with this challenging symptom....