[Acute granulocytic leukaemia: prognostic value of medullary caryotype (author's transl)].

Thirty-nine cases of granulocytic acute leukaemia (AL) forming an homogeneous series were the object of a satisfactory chromosomal examination of the marrow by direct examination at the time of diagnosis. This group of patients was compared with another group of similar number where the conditions of patient referral, diagnosis and treatment were the same, in order to show that no selection was involved in the series studied. Medullary caryotype was found to be normal in 61,5% of cases. In such patients, the hope of complete remission and mean survival were significantly better than in cases where the caryotype was abnormal, and all the more so when the caryotype contained abnormalities in all the mitoses examined. For myeloblastic AL, the correlation between caryotype and the effects of treatment is very close (p less than 0,01). For the therapist, these results justify a new approach in the treatment of myeloblastic AL.