[Pathologic anatomy of sepsis in children with acute leukemia]

Autopsies of 252 cases of acute leukosis in children dying of sepsis were examined. Except 2, all the children had been in the state of exacerbation of the leukemic process and received current intensive therapy. Sepsis was the immediate cause of death in 68 (26.9%) cases. Most prevalent were such forms of sepsis as sepsis with embolic foci of necrosis in organs (44 cases), septicemia (18), septicopyemia (6). In 40 cases considerable leukemic infiltration of the bone marrow and internal organs, in 18 cases moderate and in 10 poor was observed. The criterian of sepsis in children with acute leukosis is the presence of embolic foci of necrosis, less frequently of metastatic abscesses. All the other signs may be associated both with leukemic and septic processes. The causative agent of sepsis in the majority of cases was hemolytic coagulaso-positive staphylococcus.