Seizures in a dog with acute myeloblastic leukaemia: review of literature and case report

Leukaemia is a neoplastic disease originating from precursor cells of the haematopoietic cells in the bone marrow. According to the FAB (French-American-British-) Classification in humans, leukaemia in animals can be divided into further groups, depending on the results of normal cytology as well as immunohistochemical and cytoenzymatic reactions. Acute leukaemia is a rare disease in dogs. To our knowledge, there have been no descriptions in the veterinary literature on acute leukaemia with concomitant seizures in dogs so far. We therefore reviewed the pertinent literature and describe the case of a four-year-old Dalmatian crossbreed dog referred because of seizures, weakness and incoordination. According to the results of routine cytology as well as cytoenzymatic and immunohistochemic stainings the final diagnosis of an acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML1 or AML5) was confirmed.