Acute Leukemia with Normal Platelet Count at Diagnosis

Thirty-six (17.8%) of 202 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 2 (3.7%) of 54 children with acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) had a platelet count over 150 times 109/1 at diagnosis. Children with ALL and a platelet count over 150 times 109/1 were analysed in detail. The ALL patients without thrombocytopenia tended to be male predominant and had less frequent bleeding manifestations (p < 0.01).These patients without thrombocytopenia had also significantly less marked leukocytosis (p < 0.01), less severe anemia (p < 0.05) and lower percentages of bone marrow blasts (p < 0.05) than those with thrombocytopenia. In addition, ALL patients without thrombocytopenia had a significantly higher probability of continuous complete remission than those with thrombocytopenia (p < 0.01).