When do kids grow out of autoimmune neutropenia?
The condition usually lasts only 2-3 years before spontaneous resolution, and virtually all patients recover by age 5 years. Spontaneous recovery after 6-24 months is typical. If it persists beyond age 4-5 years, consider other diagnoses (secondary neutropenia).
What can cause neutropenia in a child?
Neutropenia has a number of causes among children, including:
- Inadequate bone marrow production due to another blood disorder (such as aplastic anemia) or cancer (such as leukemia).
- Radiation therapy or chemotherapy, which destroy white blood cells.
- An autoimmune disease causing inadequate white blood cells.
Does autoimmune neutropenia go away?
It is a self-limited condition, with more than 95% of children recovering normal neutrophil counts within 2 years. Patients can be managed with prophylactic antibiotics and rarely need further intervention.
What are the symptoms of autoimmune neutropenia?
Symptoms associated with severe chronic neutropenia include recurring fevers, mouth sores (ulcers), inflammation of the tissues that surround and support the teeth (periodontitis) and inflammation of the sinuses (sinusitis), throat (pharyngitis) and/or ear (otitis).
How is neutropenia treated in children?
How Is Neutropenia Treated?
- injections of granulocyte colony-stimulating growth factor (G-CSF) to push the bone marrow to make more neutrophils.
- steroid medicines to stop the body’s immune system from attacking the neutrophils.
- white blood cell transfusions to give the child more infection-fighting cells.
Why would a child have low white blood cells?
A low white blood cell count usually is caused by: Viral infections that temporarily disrupt the work of bone marrow. Certain disorders present at birth (congenital) that involve diminished bone marrow function. Cancer or other diseases that damage bone marrow.
Is neutropenia an autoimmune disease?
Neutropenia associated with immunodeficiency. Neutropenia can be associated with a deficit of both innate and acquired immunity but in most cases the mechanism is not autoimmune.
What does low neutrophils in children mean?
Overview. If your child has neutropenia, it means that their level of specific white blood cells (neutrophils) is lower than normal. Neutrophils help your child’s body fight infections. Your child’s risk of catching infections may be higher if their neutrophil count is low.
What does low neutrophils mean in a child?
The ANC is a blood test that measures the number of neutrophils. The lower the number is, the more likely the child is to get serious infections.
What autoimmune conditions cause neutropenia?
What causes autoimmune neutropenia?
- Crohn disease.
- Rheumatoid arthritis (with or without Felty syndrome)
- Sjögren syndrome.
- Chronic, autoimmune hepatitis.
- Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Systemic lupus erythematosus.
- Thymoma.
- Goodpasture disease.
Why would a child’s white blood cell count be low?
Can neutropenia be benign?
People can have neutropenia without an increased risk of infection. This is known as benign neutropenia. Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.
Is neutropenia a symptom of lupus?
A reduction in the number of white blood cells is called leukopenia; a particular reduction in granulocytes is called neutropenia (or granulocytopenia). Leukopenia and neutropenia are very common in active lupus, but rarely are white cell counts low enough to lead to infection.
How does a child with leukemia act?
Common symptoms of leukemia in children include feeling tired and weak, easy bruising or bleeding, and frequent or long-term infections. Leukemia is diagnosed with blood and bone marrow tests. Imaging may be done to look for signs of leukemia in different parts of the body.
How is immune neutropenia treated?
Neutropenia can be moderate to severe and complicated by serious infections. Although the disease is usually self-limited and spontaneously remits within 2 years in about 95% of cases, prophylactic antibiotics and treatment with G-CSF during the neutropenic period are often necessary.