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Septic shock is a major public health concern. However, the clinical and laboratory criteria for sepsis overlap with those for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), and their differentiation can be challenging. The aim of this study was to compare HLH criteria among patients diagnosed with neonatal sepsis and childhood sepsis and to study the outcomes in patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for HLH. A cross-sectional study included 50 neonates and children with severe sepsis and/or septic shock. Clinical and laboratory data and HLH diagnostic criteria were studied in relation to patients outcome. Of all patients, 18% fulfilled three of the eight HLH diagnostic criteria, 2% fulfilled four criteria, and 4% fulfilled five criteria. All patients who fulfilled three or more of the criteria died. Mortality was higher in the presence of more positive HLH criteria and in pediatric age groups. However, the distributions of the HLH criteria were comparable for pediatric and neonatal patients with severe sepsis/septic shock, and their mortality rates were not significantly different when based on the criteria.

Background: We sought to screen for clinical and laboratory features of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis among pediatric patients with severe sepsis., Methods: We conducted a retrospective study that analyzed the clinical and laboratory data of 70 pediatric patients who died of severe sepsis. Medical records were revised for the presence of fever, splenomegaly, pancytopenia, hyperferritinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypofibrinogenemia. Soluble CD25 was measured in stored samples., Results: Patients' ages ranged between 0.5 and 11 years with median (interquartile range) 2 (1-5). All patients had fever (≥38.5 °C) and pancytopenia, 58 (82.9%) hepatosplenomegaly, 36 (51.4%) lymphadenopathy, 37 (52.9%) had ferritin >500 ng/ml, 20 (28.6%) had fibrinogen <1.5 mg/ml, 14 (20%) had fasting triglycerides >264 mg/dl while 5 (7.1%) had soluble CD25 >2400 U/ml. Twenty-five (35.7%) patients fulfilled at least 5/6 of the hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis-2004 diagnostic criteria. Multivariate backward binary logistic regression analysis revealed lymphadenopathy as an independent predictor for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis criteria fulfilment with odds ratio of 23.9. Fibrinogen had the best performance in discriminating hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis fulfilling from non-fulfilling groups (cut-off value: <1.8 mg/ml), followed by ferritin/erythrocyte sedimentation rate ratio (cut-off value: >17)., Conclusion: There is a significant clinical and laboratory overlap between hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and severe sepsis, making the syndromes difficult to distinguish. The use of current hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis-2004 diagnostic criteria should be applied cautiously in those patients.