ACUTE LEUKAEMIA
Although it is often possible to establish a diagnosis
of acute leukaemia from peripheral blood
examination, bone marrow aspiration should
nevertheless be carried out. This is both
because the likelihood of successful cytogenetic
analysis is higher if bone marrow cells are used
and because a baseline is needed for comparison
with bone marrow aspirates performed
during treatment. In addition, bone marrow
aspiration permits the assessment of trilineage
dysplasia, which may be of prognostic relevance.