A case of miliary tuberculosis simulating acute blastic leukemia.

Fulminating miliary tuberculosis in a 70-year-old man was mistaken for acute blastic leukemia. The clinical and hematologic findings as well as the necropsy are noted. This case is compared with 21 previously reported similar cases along with a review of the phenomenon of leukemoid reactions. The correct diagnosis is rarely made during life. With the availability of adequate antituberculosis agents it is now essential that clinicians be alerted in the search for a treatable disease, tuberculosis, which masquerades as an essentially untreatable disease, acute leukemia in the adult.