Abstract
Objective: As mild leukocytosis is discovered occasionally in health check-ups, we investigated cases of mild leukocytosis detected during health check-ups at our hospital in 2011．
Methods: Thirteen of 2,182 persons who underwent a health check-up at our hospital in 2011 were considered to have leukocytosis as their white blood cell count was more than 10,000/μl. We investigated its causes. Among the 13 subjects, there were 2 with leukemia.
Case Report: A 54-year-old woman developed a sore throat and felt feverish a few days before the health check-up. She was diagnosed with tonsillitis by a local doctor, who prescribed antibiotics. She had recovered by the time of the health check-up. The laboratory tests conducted in the health check-up revealed slight leukocytosis (13,000/μl) and mild liver dysfunction. In a more detailed examination, a blood smear contained 2.0% myelocytes and 3.0% metamyelocytes, and considering the fact that that the subject had just recovered from an infection, we followed her up. As basophils also began to increase, a blood disorder was suspected and she was diagnosed with CML through further examination.
Results: The suspected cause of leukocytosis in 6 subjects was smoking, that in 4 was transient infection, that in 1 was unknown and that in 2 was leukemia, one of whom was the subject described above (total 0.1%).
Conclusions: Even in cases of slight elevation of white blood cell count, leukocytosis should be suspected. It is important to investigate the causes of leukocytosis, and provide follow-up.
