Blast-Cell Arterial Embolus in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

The link between coagulatory dysfunction in acute leukemias is well known, with patients having an increased risk of bleeding as well as thrombosis. Arterial thrombosis is particularly rare in this population however with only a few reported cases in the literature. We report the case of acute arterial occlusion secondary to a leukoblastic embolus causing limb threatening ischemia in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia. The patient was successfully treated surgically by open superficial femoral artery thrombectomy, common femoral endarterectomy with patch angioplasty, and percutaneous tibial embolectomy.