Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: A Diagnostic Conundrum

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a syndrome of excessive immune activation causing widespread inflammation and tissue destruction leading to multi-organ dysfunction and failure. Making the diagnosis of HLH could be quite challenging due to the broad range of presenting symptoms and their lack of specificity. After ruling out considerations for differential diagnoses, recognizing the most common presenting signs and symptoms of HLH, including neurologic dysfunction, and having a high clinical suspicion for HLH in the setting of inflammatory/demyelinating diseases are important for prompt diagnosis and treatment.