BACKGROUND: The objective of the current study was to guide the early clinical treatment strategies by assessing the recovery of abnormal coagulation in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients during induction therapy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed in 112 newly-diagnosed patients with APL during induction treatment.

RESULTS: The early death (ED) rate in our study was 5.36% and the main cause was fetal hemorrhage. The presence of bleeding symptoms was significantly correlated with low platelet and fibrinogen levels. The values of white blood cell (WBC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen, and bone marrow leukemic promyelocyte in the high-risk group were significantly different from those in the low/intermediate-risk groups. Coagulation variables significantly improved after dual induction therapy. No significant difference was found in changes of platelet (PLT), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), D-dimers, and fibrinogen among different risk groups after induction therapy. D-dimer levels were initially high and remained well above normal after 4 weeks of induction therapy.

CONCLUSIONS: Aggressive prophylactic transfusion to maintain high platelet and fibrinogen transfusion thresholds could reduce hemorrhage in APL patients. Immediately starting induction therapy effectively alleviated coagulopathy in APL patients. Hyperfibrinolysis was a more important event in the APL hemorrhagic diathesis.

Keywords: Fibrinolysis, Hemorrhage, Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute