Comparison of the clinical features and outcome of children with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) secondary to visceral leishmaniasis and primary HLH: a single-center study

BACKGROUND: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a syndrome of excessive inflammation. We aimed to describe the clinical and laboratory findings of HLH patients secondary to Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and their treatment outcome during a 4-year follow-up period compared to primary HLH. METHOD: Forty children with primary HLH confirmed by genetic study and 20 children with HLH secondary to VL confirmed by a blood or bone marrow polymerase chain reaction from 2014 to 2018 in Shiraz, Fars province, Southern Iran, were enrolled. RESULTS: The median age at diagnosis was 11.5 months (range 1–170), and 56.7% were male. Fever and splenomegaly were the most frequent clinical presentations. 93.3% of the subjects had an HScore > 169, which had a good correlation with HLH-2004 criteria (r = 0.371, P = 0.004). Patients with primary HLH experienced more thrombocytopenia (P = 0.012) and higher alanine transaminase (P = 0.016), while patients with VL-associated HLH had higher ferritin (P = 0.034) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P = 0.011). Central nervous system (CNS) involvement occurred in 38.3% of patients. The mortality rate was higher in patients with CNS disease (61% vs. 35%, P = 0.051). The 3-yr overall survival rate was 35.9%. (24% in primary HLH and 100% in VL-associated HLH, P < 0.001). In Cox regression analysis, platelet count < 100,000/ μ l (hazard ratio 4.472, 95% confidence interval 1.324–15.107, P = 0.016) correlated with increased mortality in patients with primary HLH. CONCLUSION: VL is a potential source of secondary HLH in regions with high endemicity. Treatment of the underlying disease in VL-associated HLH is sufficient in most cases, with no need to start etoposide-based chemotherapy.