Visceral Leishmaniasis as a Cause or Mimicker of Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: Diagnostic Challenges and HLH-04 Criteria Limits
VL is a neglected disease with a challenging diagnosis due to its strong resemblance to HLH. Although both conditions share overlapping clinical and laboratory findings, they have distinct pathogenic mechanisms. The HLH-04 criteria show limitations in distinguishing these conditions. While anemia and elevated ferritin might be more specific biomarkers for HLH, additional invasive tests, like bone marrow aspiration, are often essential due to the subtle symptoms and difficult diagnosis between the 2 conditions.
Authors
- Raffaella Nenna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-3462)
- Laura Petrarca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2430-2981)
- Furio Spano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7324-0895)
- M. Serratore
- Mattia Spatuzzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7024-2211)
- G. Ronci
- Martina Formisano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4941-9307)
- María Teresita Bertolí (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5844-0351)
- Fabio Midulla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7476-5266)
- Ethel Figliozzi
- Martina Vetrò
- Ludovica L. Lucidi
- Nadiantonia Porcelli
- Giovanni Urgo
Institutions
- Apple (Israel) (IL)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
- Published
- 2025-12-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1097/inf.0000000000005075
- Primary Topic
- Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disorders Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00