Serum ferritin is a cost-effective laboratory marker for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in the developing world

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare disease in children and presents many diagnostic difficulties. Without prompt intervention, the disease typically runs a rapidly fatal course. Diagnostic criteria were proposed by the Histiocyte Society in 1991 and have since been modified. Included in these criteria is a ferritin level >500 mcg/L. Although not diagnostic, a high ferritin level is highly suggestive of HLH. Serum ferritin assays are more accessible and cost-effective compared with other biochemical markers, particularly in resource-limited settings. Fifteen patients with HLH were treated at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital between 1991 and 2010. Hyperferritinemia was a consistently reliable finding (93%) compared with either serum fibrinogen or triglycerides, which were elevated in only half of the patients. It is our contention that analysis of a complete blood count and serum ferritin (in addition to clinical criteria and tissue examination of marrow and/or cerebrospinal fluid) is probably the single most cost-effective and clinically helpful means to make the diagnosis of HLH when laboratory access is limited.