Cyto-morphological features of extramedullary acute megakaryoblastic leukemia on fine needle aspiration and cerebrospinal fluid cytology: A case report

• Published in: CytoJournal Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 17
• Main Authors: Chitragar, Sanjeev, Agarwal, Shipra, Iyer, Venkateswaran K, Mathur, Sandeep R, Karak, Asis K, Chharchhodawala, Taher, Sharma, Atul, Bakhshi, Sameer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 27.09.2011; Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Case Report; Diagnosis; Sarcoma; AML M7; cytology; leukemia; megakaryoblastic; fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology/biopsy (FNAC)/(FNAB); extramedullary
• ISSN: 1742-6413; 0974-5963; 1742-6413
• DOI: 10.4103/1742-6413.85496

Extramedullary deposits may be the presenting feature of acute myeloid leukemia. An early and accurate diagnosis on cytology will aid in correct patient management. This is especially true for patients with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML M7), where bone marrow aspiration may yield only a dry tap. While cytomorphological features of myeloid sarcoma of other types are well recognized due to its rarity, there are only two case reports discussing the morphological details of megakaryoblastic differentiation on aspiration cytology. We present the case of a 25-year-old patient with extramedullary involvement of lymph node and cerebrospinal fluid by AML M7, describing in detail, the morphological features on aspiration as well as exfoliative cytology.