ABSTRACT
Aim: To investigate the usefulness of some clinical and laboratory parameters in assessing the prognosis and survival of CLL in a resource-limited setting. Methods : Between September 1986 and March 2007; 79 consecutive patients were retrospectively studied. Diagnosis was based on clinical and haematological findings. Results : A total of 79 patients; aged 30 to 81 (median = 60) years were managed. There were 34 males and 45 females (ratio = 0.8:1). About 86.1were aged above 50 years. Massive splenomegaly and hepatomegaly were recorded in 70.9and 29.1of patients; respectively. More than 63presented in stage C. Anaemia was recorded in 74.7. Haematocrit correlated negatively with WBC but positively with platelet count. The spleen correlated positively with liver. The overall survival at 2 years was 70.2. Logistic regression showed that younger age; male sex; higher haematocrit; and lower platelet count improved survival; while lower WBC; moderate hepatomegaly and splenomegaly conferred survival advantage. Conclusion : It could be concluded that massive splenomegaly is a common finding in the majority of our patients. Non availability of immunophenotyping facility is a major constraint
Subject(s)
B-Lymphocytes , Leukemia , Prognosis , SplenomegalyABSTRACT
Background: The acute phase proteins (APPs) are plasma proteins whose concentration rise or reduce in reaction to infection, inflammation or trauma (Baumann and Gauldie, 1990). The circulating concentration of these proteins are related to the severity of the underlying condition, thus quantification of their concentrations provide a ready means of giving valuable clinical information and extent of the disease processes (Thompson et. al., 1992). Materials and Methods: Serum levels of three acute phase proteins (transferrin, á2-macroglobulin and haptoglobin) were determined using single radial immuno-diffusion technique in one hundred and eight Nigerian women aged between 15 and 30 years. They were made up of thirty pregnant women with urinary schistosomiasis (P+USS), thirty-six pregnant women without USS (P-USS), eighteen non-pregnant women with USS (NP+USS), and twenty-four healthy non-pregnant women without USS (NP-USS) as controls. Results: The result shows that transferrin was least in P-USS group and highest in NP+USS. The highest mean value of alpha-2 macroglobulin was found in P+USS group and the least in NP+USS. Haptoglobin was significantly reduced in P+USS compared with other groups. Conclusions: The finding of this study suggests an independent effect of USS and pregnancy on serum levels of APPs, therefore APPs could be used to distinguish P+USS from P-USS