Characterizing "difficult" acute leukemias. A combined electron microscopic and immunological marker study.

The techniques of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), including ultrastructural myeloperoxidase cytochemistry (MPO), and immunological marker analysis, have been used to classify 58 "difficult" cases of acute leukemia where a precise diagnosis could not be made on the basis of conventional light microscopy and cytochemistry. TEM with MPO proved most valuable in characterizing 15 cases of acute myeloid leukemia and its variants, as well as defining complex cellular subpopulations in 11 cases of chronic myeloid leukemia in blast crisis. Immunological marker studies provided conclusive evidence of lymphoid differentiation in 18 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and related disorders. In addition, the combined techniques were used to document 14 cases of terminal transferase-positive acute myeloid leukemia. This study demonstrates that these 2 techniques provide overlapping and complementary information for accurate diagnosis and classification of morphologically difficult hematological malignancies.