Bone Marrow Assessment in the Diagnosis of Acquired Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in Adults

To the Editor Ho and colleagues1 described the results of their study aimed to assess the clinical utility of a bone marrow examination in the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). The authors conclude that marrow findings do not reliably predict the probability of HLH, and an isolated finding of hemophagocytosis lacks specificity for HLH. We found the study interesting, but we would like to make some comments on this article. First, we think that the authors should clearly state (eg, in the title) that the study relates only to acquired HLH. Ho et al1 have also omitted important information in the abstract that the study relates only to adults (median age of patients was 54 years; range, 18–87 years). HLH, also known as hemophagocytic syndrome, is usually classified into two distinct forms: an inherited, familial form (FHL) and an …