Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: Neuroradiological findings

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HL) is a rare syndrome, although more common in children, that may be underdiagnosed. The clinical presentation can be aggressive, and patients may rapidly develop lethal multiple organ failure...HL simulates the presentation of infectious sepsis, although the response to treatment and evolution are worse. HL should be suspected in young children with persistent fever of unknown origin, general malaise, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia, elevated triglycerides and ferritin, and decreased fibrinogen. Brain MRI shows diffuse leptomeningeal and perivascular enhancement, patchy areas of hyperintensity in the white matter of both cerebral hemispheres on T2-weighted sequences, and cerebral atrophy. Diffusion-weighted sequences are useful for staging the lesions. We present a fatal case of familial HL and review the literature about the clinical, histological, and radiological characteristics of this disease.