Thrombosis of the cerebral veins and sinuses in acute promyelocytic leukemia after all-trans retinoic acid treatment: a case report

Thrombosis of the cerebral veins or sinuses is a rare cerebrovascular disorder, which seldom represents a complication of acute promyelocytic leukemia. To the best of our knowledge, it never occurred during treatment with all-trans retinoic acid. We report a case of a 35-year-old woman affected by acute promyelocytic leukemia, who developed massive thrombosis of the cerebral sinuses and veins when she was in complete morphological and molecular remission after all-trans retinoic acid and idarubicin treatment Anticoagulant therapy contributed to progressive dissolution of the thrombosis as documented by magnetic resonance imaging with complete disappearance of neurological signs without sequelae. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis 19:721-723 (C) 2008 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.