Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and Cesarean Section: The Anesthesiologist's Point of View.

backgroundChronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm related to chromosomal reciprocal translocation t(9;22). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as imatinib have drastically revolutionized the course and the prognosis of this hematologic malignancy. As we know, the association pregnancy-CML is an infrequent situation. Also the use of TKI in pregnant women is unsafe with a lack of alternatives and effective therapeutic options. Thus its cessation during gestation puts those patients at high risk of developing blast crisis characterized by poor outcomes. CASE REPORT: A 37-year-old pregnant woman, gravida 2, para 2, with a previous cesarean section in 2011, presented to the obstetric unit. Her medical past revealed that she is a newly diagnosed patient with CML managed by TKI during her preconception period. Due to the perilous use of TKI during her pregnancy, a switch to interferon- DISCUSSION: Although data on this specific and challenging situation are limited, this case highlights the difficulties encountered by the anesthesiologists when choosing the accurate anesthetic strategy and how important it is to weigh the risks and benefits inherent to each technique. Above all, taking into consideration the possible central nervous system (CNS) contamination by circulating blast cells when performing spinal or epidural approach is primordial. This potential adverse event (CNS blast crisis) is extremely scarce but it is responsible for high rates of morbidity and mortality.