One hundred and eighteen patients with chronic leukaemias were seen at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, between 1964 and 1982. There were 75 patients with chronic granulocytic leukaemia (CGL) and 43 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Although most of them presented with the familiar features of chronic leukaemias, a few features were remarkably different from those reported in some of the Caucasian series. CLL is less common than CGL in contrast to their relative incidence in Caucasians. Our patients generally presented with more massive splenomegaly and more severe anaemia, which could be attributed to late presentation, endemic malaria and possibly increased hypersplenism.
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