Chloroma, a malignant green tumor arising from myeloid tissue, was first described in 1823, and subsequently some 350 cases have been reported in the literature.1,2 Early case reports described chloroma as a green tumor occurring predominantly about the skull, particularly in the orbital region, and usually found in infants or children with acute leukemia. For many years chloroma was associated with leukemia of various cell types, but it is now apparent that chloroma is related only to myelogenous leukemia and that it may occur anywhere in the body in old as well as young patients. Tumor masses histologically identical to chloroma but without greenish pigmentation have been described in patients with myelogenous leukemia. In other instances patients were found at autopsy to have greenish discoloration of many organs, tissues, and even body fluids; however, in these cases tumor masses, green or otherwise, could not be identified.
In describing myeloblastic