Improvement of platelet dysfunction in chronic myelogenous leukemia following treatment with imatinib: A case report

Introduction. In patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, tyrosine kinase inhibitors suppress the BCR-ABL+ clone and often induce complete molecular remissions. Megakaryocytes in such patients have been shown to be derived from the BCR-ABL+ clone, and abnormal platelet function is frequent in chronic myeloid leukemia. However, little is known about the influence of modern targeted therapy on chronic myeloid leukemia-associated platelet disorders. Case presentation. We report the case of a massive hemorrhage in a 32-year-old Caucasian man caused by chronic myeloid leukemia-associated platelet dysfunction, which improved after treatment with imatinib. Conclusion: This report demonstrates that platelet dysfunction and bleeding disorder in BCR-ABL+ chronic myeloid leukemia can successfully be treated with imatinib. We suggest the monitoring of platelet function in future studies using imatinib to treat patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. © 2011 Shimabukuro-Vornhagen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.