Belgian Journal of Paediatrics
Prolonged fever, splenomegaly and pancytopenia in a 4-year-old child: don’t forget Leishmania
Vol. 23 No. 1 (2021), Case reports
Vol. 23 No. 1 (2021)

Prolonged fever, splenomegaly and pancytopenia in a 4-year-old child: don’t forget Leishmania

Case reports
Published 2021-04-12 — Updated on 2023-01-18
Kawtar Ssoussi Addi
Infectious Disease Unit, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Fiorenza Ulgiati
Pediatric Nephrology Department, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Sophie Blumental
Infectious Disease Unit, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Brigitte Adams
Pediatric Nephrology Department, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Pierre R. Smeesters
Infectious Disease Unit, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola & Laboratoire de Bactériologie Moléculaire, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Céline Mignon
Infectious Disease Unit, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

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Keywords

visceral Leishmaniasis
pediatrics
Leishmania infantum
splenomegaly
pancytopenia

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How to Cite

Ssoussi Addi, K., Ulgiati, F., Blumental, S., Adams, B., Smeesters, P. R., & Mignon, C. (2023). Prolonged fever, splenomegaly and pancytopenia in a 4-year-old child: don’t forget Leishmania. Belgian Journal of Paediatrics, 23(1), 69–71. Retrieved from http://belgjpaediatrics.com/index.php/bjp/article/view/181 (Original work published April 12, 2021)
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Abstract

We report the case of a four-year-old boy returning from Morocco admitted to our hospital with a two-months history of fever and abdominal distension. He had a splenomegaly and a pancytopenia. Anti-leishmania antibodies were found by indirect immunofluorescence test on patient’s blood. The presence of Leishmania infantum DNA in bone marrow was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction  establishing the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum. The child was treated with liposomal amphotericin B. Visceral leishmaniasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with persistent fever, hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia with travel history to endemic areas.

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