ABSTRACT
The sequence and time frame in which information becomes available to the pathologist can seem chaotic. The diagnosis of acute leukemia can be made within a few hours based on increased blasts in the BM aspirate or PB. Determination of myeloid lineage, in the absence of Auer rods, requires flow cytometry (FCM ) or cytochemistry, and the “final” diagnosis may not be known until genotyping (a few days to a week) is complete. The pathologist s job is to manage these events and to interpret, or refuse to over-interpret, the results as they become available. In many instances the pathologist can give the clinician enough information to provide the patient with a provisional explanation of their disease and to begin treatment quite early in this process.
