MECHANICAL COMPRESSION OF THE SPINAL CORD BY TUMOROUS LEUKEMIC INFILTRATION

Abstract

Acute leukemias resemble severe acute infectious diseases in being characterized clinically by a relatively sudden onset with high fever, general malaise and prostration. Pathologically, the leukemias are characterized by a tendency to necrotic and hemorrhagic processes in the mucous membranes, glands and bones. An infectious agent for the acute lymphatic and myelogenous leukemias has not been found; therefore they are considered by most hematologists as systemic diseases of unknown origin. The excessive formation of new blood cells in the leukemias is not restricted merely to hyperactive bone marrow, but emergency organs of blood cell production, such as the spleen, liver, lymph glands and even the subcutaneous tissue, are brought into activity. If one accepts the theory that multiple foci of leukemic deposits are metastases of a primary myelogenous or lymphatic disease, then the leukemias should be grouped under the heading of blastoma. The systemic expansion of leukemia has a similarity