A neuroleukemia or neuraleukemia syndrome is a specific lesion of the central nervous system( cranial nerves, brain and its shell) with cancerous new blood formation.
This disease is attributed to severe exacerbations of acute leukemia. Most often it is detected in young children and adolescents under 15 years.
Mechanism and causes of
disease Neuroleukemia can be developed against a background of different types of acute leukemia, but most often it is diagnosed in children due to lymphoblastic leukemia.
Neuroleukemia develops as a result of blastic cells entering the sheath of the brain or spinal cord, into the very substance of the brain, as well as the nerve trunks during the first stages of the disease progression.
Leukemia cells in the CNS fall in two ways:
- pin - from the bones of the spine and skull to the shell of the brain and nervous system of the spinal cord;
- diapered - through the blood vessels of the soft membranes in the brain and spinal fluid.
The incidence and development of neuroleukemia is associated with the life expectancy of patients with leukemia. According to the 
statistics, the patient's life expectancy significantly increases the likelihood of a CNS leukemia lesion.
Of those children who lived one year, neuraleukemia was detected in 27%, if the survival rate was from three to five years, the likelihood of manifestation of the disease increased to 71 and 93%, respectively.
There is no precise evidence of the cause of this disease. But experts in the field of medicine identify several factors that contribute to the appearance of malignant formations in the body.
The main reason is called ionizing radiation. Acute leukemia is often detected in people who are from the epicenter of radiation at a distance of up to 1.5 km. Also, the disease is highly likely to affect patients with spinal problems who have been exposed to radiation therapy.
It is not excluded that the disease develops due to viruses. Oncogenes provoke cells to the constant division and formation of malignant genes.
Often, the disease is diagnosed in people whose families have relatives with a similar pathology. Consequently, neuroleukemia can be the cause of heredity.
Among the patients, cases of change at the genetic level have been established: from the transformed cell in leukemia cancer can subsequently develop. The process of dividing such cells leads to an exacerbation of the disease and neiroleukemia.
Diseases and symptoms
At the first stages of the development of the disease in children, asthenia manifests itself. They become closed, drowsy and capricious, quickly tired. The further development of the disease is affected by the scale of leukemic lesions of the central nervous system. There are the following main types of neiroleukemia:
- meningeal - damages the meninges;
- encephalitic - affects the brain;
- mixed form;
- damage to the components of the nervous system.
Leukemia meningitis is the most common type of leukemia of the central nervous system in children and is diagnosed in the case of detection of tumor cells in the cerebrospinal fluid.
In this situation, patients often also identify hydrocephalus and crushing of the cranial nerves. The edema of the eye discs, as well as the disruption of the muscles controlling the eye movements, are not excluded. Damage to the bone marrow can trigger seizures.
The manifestation of neuroleukemia is often similar to the symptoms of damage to the meninges: chronic migraines, weakness, vomiting, loss of consciousness, swelling of the optic nerve head, deflection of the visual axis. The lymph nodes are slightly enlarged, bruises appear on the skin.
If the brain substance has been affected, then seizures, convulsions, and inadequate behavior occur.
A disease that affects the cranial nerves causes a violation of facial muscles, a visual impairment and a worsening of hearing.
The initial sign of neuroleukemia is an increased content of blast cells in the cerebrospinal fluid and cytosis.
Diagnosis and treatment of
Neuroleukemia is diagnosed using a cytologic study of CSF to detect leukemia cells. 
Often the protein content, in this situation, will be high, and glucose - reduced.
A modern treatment course aims to achieve the following objectives:
- to reduce the symptoms of the disease;
- containment of the results - prevention of deterioration of the patient;
- timely conduct of treatment procedures for relapse.
The essence of the treatment of neuroleukemia is the introduction of chemotherapy into the cerebrospinal fluid. In the absence of the effect of lumbar puncture, irradiation is prescribed.
Forecasts - is there a chance?
It is rather difficult to talk about the results of treatment of such a dangerous disease as neiroleukemia. The effectiveness of the therapeutic process affects a number of reasons, and not only medical. Cancer diseases are prone to relapse, therefore, the sooner the treatment begins, the better the chances of recovery or remission.
The prognosis of life, as well as the amount of death from neuroleukemia, is largely due to the following factors:
- human age;
- selected treatment;
- the complexity of the disease and its stage;
- immunity of the patient, the body's response to chemotherapy and radiation.
A favorable outcome largely depends on achieving complete clinical and hematologic remission. Children aged 2 to 5 years have a chance of survival twice as high as newborns and schoolchildren.
Modern medicine can bring the patient's condition to a stable remission. Patients younger than 55 years can live for about five years. The older the person, the lower his chances of recovery. No more than 10% of patients aged 60 years had a life expectancy of up to five years.
Deterioration of forecasts may be caused by a violation of the treatment strategy, intervals between courses, non-compliance with the dose of medications. This leads to the stability of leukemia cells and the futility of further therapy.
