Acute Myeloid Leukaemia is sometimes misdiagnosed as Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

It has been reported that some patients have been misdiagnosed with Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, when in fact the correct diagnosis in their specific case was Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a cancer of the bone marrow where all your blood cells are made. AML causes your red, white and platelets to not be formed correctly leading to low levels of blood cells in the blood. This non-functional cells crowd out the healthy cells in the bone marrow. Low levels of red blood cells leads to anaemia, low levels of white blood cells lead to the patient having constant infections and low levels of platelets causes prolonged bleeding. AML is the most common form of leukaemia in adults and mainly affects adults 65 years and older. Conditions that AML could be misdiagnosed as include acute lymphoblastic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelogenous leukemia, myeloproliferative neoplasms, infectious mononucleosis. AML is an acute disease that means the disease progresses rapidly so any misdiagnosis can cause an increase in the risk of death.

Always consult your doctor or health professional, and do not self diagnose.

Symptoms can include:

Bone pain, fever, lethargy and fatigue, pale skin, frequent infections, shortness of breath, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, frequent nosebleeds, bleeding from the gums

Symptoms are a guideline only and may apply to either the diagnosis or the reported misdiagnosis, or both. Consult your specialist for further information.

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