Intravascular Granulocyte Kinetics in Acute Leukemia

Intravascular granulocyte kinetics in 11 patients with acute leukemia and 8 hematologically normal individuals were studied following the infusion of autologous leukocytes labeled in vitro with diisopropylfluorophosphate (DF³²P). The kinetics of the labeled granulocytes in the control subjects was similar to that reported in previous studies. Ten of eleven leukemic subjects, however, had abnormal granulocyte disappearance curves and prolonged granulocyte disappearance rates. This was true for patients in remission as well as for untreated patients. The abnormal granulocyte kinetic patterns demonstrated here are in keeping with the disorderly and diminished granulocytopoiesis and defective granulocyte mobilization found in acute leukemia.