1.5.1 Laboratory Diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
Laboratory diagnosis of acute leukemia requires morphological examination of peripheral blood film and bone marrow. Additional laboratory testing such as cytochemical staining, immunophenotyping, chromosomal studies and molecular analysis is required in order to improve diagnostic accuracy (Plesa et al. 2008). Haematological diagnosis has traditionally been based on light microscopy supplemented by cytochemistry. However, the development of new techniques in the past two decades, such as immunophenotyping, and cytogenetic and molecular genetic analysis, provided an additional source of information, which has an important impact on patient management (Hassan, 1996).