The preleukemic syndrome. I. Clinical and hematological findings.

A long-term prospective study including 151 patients with preleukemia was performed in 1958--79. The series comprised 78 women and 73 men with a mean age of 79 and 72 years, respectively. Acute leukemia was the cause of death in 35 patients, 61 died of infections and/or hemorrhage or of unrelated causes. The mean interval between the initial diagnosis and death from acute non-lymphocytic leukemia was 36 months (range 2--121). Pitfalls in diagnosis are extensively discussed. The most striking was the advanced age of the patients. The presence of pancytopenia at the time of diagnosis was not predictive for subsequent blastic transformation.