A 17-year-old woman was urgently transported to our hospital due to consciousness disturbance. A blood examination revealed intracerebral hemorrhage, WBC 233,800/l, blasts 93%, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. The results of bone-marrow aspiration indicated acute myeloid leukemia (M2 in FAB classification) with t (7;11) (p15;p15) and the resulting chimeric gene NUP98-HOXA9 and with FLT3-ITD. Following hematoma evacuation, induction therapy was initiated and the leukocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid observed in the spinal drainage were monitored. Because they increased on days 5 and 9 after the completion of induction therapy, intrathecal chemotherapy (IT) was performed; this finally contributed to controlling AML in the central nervous system (CNS), together with the restoration of normal hematopoiesis. Subsequently, after complete molecular remission with consolidation therapies containing high-dose cytarabine, a bone-marrow transplantation with a myeloablative regimen was conducted from a 1-allele mismatched sibling donor. Finally, the patient was discharged without major sequela on day 228 after the first visit. The management of CNS disease in AML with intracerebral hemorrhage remains unclear. Our case suggests that IT at the appropriate time based on the monitored number of cerebrospinal fluid leukocytes could be useful in controlling AML in the CNS after intracerebral hemorrhage.
Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML); Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH); Intrathecal chemotherapy (IT); Spinal drainage.