TRANSIENT ACUTE LEUKAEMIA IN A NEWBORN WITH DOWN'S SYNDROME.: Prediction of its Reversibility by Bone Marrow Cultures

. A female newborn infant with Down's syndrome presented at birth with clinical and haematologic signs indistinguishable from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Specific therapy was withheld, and in contrast to the regular outcome of true congenital leukaemia, complete clinical and haematologic recovery occurred within one month of diagnosis. Cultures of bone marrow cells in the soft agar colony production assay exhibited normal growth pattern, in contrast to the‘leukaemic’pattern regularly seen in leukaemic patients and also in patients with Down's syndrome and true leukaemia. In vitro cultures of bone marrow cells can provide useful information about the likelihood of spontaneous resolution in newborns with Down's syndrome and transient acute leukaemia.