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Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare life-threatening hyperinflammatory syndrome with diverse clinical manifestations leading to major diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties. This study aimed to evaluate clinical manifestations, prognostic factors, and long-term outcomes in children with primary HLH. Forty-one patients diagnosed with primary HLH were retrospectively evaluated for patient characteristics, HLH gene mutations, clinical and laboratory manifestations, prognostic factors, and long-term outcomes. The median age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 3 months (minimum to maximum: 1 to 144 mo). There were 23 patients who had HLH mutation analysis performed, 10 patients with PRF1 mutation, 6 with STX11 mutation, and 7 with UNC13D mutation. Thirteen patients (31.7%) had central nervous system involvement. No correlation was found between overall survival and central nervous system involvement. The estimated 5-year overall survival for the patient who had hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was 9.4 times better than the patients who did not receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (81.3% vs 16.7%; P = 0.001). Median serum sodium and blood urea nitrogen levels were significantly higher in deceased HLH patients compared with surviving HLH patients ( P = 0.043, and P = 0.017, respectively). Primary HLH has a poor outcome with high mortality, which necessitates well-designed and international clinical trials to improve diagnosis, therapy, and long-term outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Invasive fungal infections, including hepatosplenic fungal infections (HSFI), cause significant morbidity and mortality in children with leukemia. There are not enough data to support for the best approach to diagnosis of HSFI in children, nor for the best treatment., Procedure: In this multicentric study, we assessed the demographic data, clinical and radiologic features, treatment, and outcome of 40 children with leukemia and HSFI from 12 centers., Results: All cases were radiologically diagnosed with abdominal ultrasound, which was performed at a median of 7 days, of the febrile neutropenic episode. Mucor was identified by histopathology in 1, and Candida was identified in blood cultures in 8 patients. Twenty-two had fungal infection in additional sites, mostly lungs. Nine patients died. Four received a single agent, and 36 a combination of antifungals., Conclusions: Early diagnosis of HSFI is challenging because signs and symptoms are usually nonspecific. In neutropenic children, persistent fever, back pain extending to the shoulder, widespread muscle pain, and increased serum galactomannan levels should alert clinicians. Abdominal imaging, particularly an abdominal ultrasound, which is easy to perform and available even in most resource-limited countries, should be recommended in children with prolonged neutropenic fever, even in the absence of localizing signs and symptoms.