The aim of this study was to evaluate the values of the leucocyte alkaline phosphatase in patients with chronic myelogenous leukaemia in the chronic phase. The study was carried out in the Nematology Service of the Central Hospital in Mendoza, Argentina. The score of alcaline phosphatase in neutrophils was determined in blood films. The semiquantitative method with enzymatic hidrolysis of naphtol phosphate was used. The naphtol is liberated and it is coupled to a diazonium salt, showing the site of the enzyme activity. The normal values were: 90 +/- 20. Forty five patients were examined: twenty five men and twenty women between 18 and 75 years of age. The mean and the standard desviation for the age were 45 +/- 6 and, for the alkaline phosphatase, 32 +/- 20. A citogenetic study had been carried out on seventeen patients and in 94, 1% of them the Philadelphia chromosome was positive. The mean and the standard desviation for the age was 44 +/- 14 and, for the alkaline phosphatase, 35 +/- 22. Similar values were also observed in all the pa tien ts. The leucocyte alkaline phosphatase decreased considerably according to the results mentioned in the article included in the references.
