Methods
This single-center retrospective study of newly diagnosed pediatric
leukemia patients, 1 to 21 years of age, was conducted at Cohen
Children’s Medical Center (New York) from January 2015 to December 2018,
after appropriate institutional ethics approval. Inclusion criteria
were: new diagnosis of leukemia including pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic
leukemia (pre-B ALL), T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), acute
myelogenous leukemia (AML), acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), mature B
cell leukemia or biphenotypic leukemia. Exclusion criteria included:
prior leukemia diagnosis, leukemia relapse, chemotherapy for leukemia at
an outside institution, treatment with steroids within the month prior
to presentation, previously diagnosed congenital or acquired
coagulopathy (in addition to known or suspected renal or hepatic
disease) and transfer to outside institution prior to undergoing
procedures. Patients’ relevant history, presenting symptoms (including
bleeding/clotting), diagnosis and laboratory values were extracted.
Exact Wilcoxon tests and Fisher’s Exact tests were performed, as
appropriate, to compare lab values and bleeding symptoms with PT and
aPTT.