Fehlinterpretation von Blutbildveränderungen

Pathological changes of the blood cells are frequent. Approximately 25% of the world population suffer from anemia. Congenital diseases of hemoglobin are frequent in certain lines of descent. Other forms of cytopenia are much less common than anemia. Neutropenia is present in approximately 1% of children. In addition to infection-related neutropenia the persistence of an autoimmune neutropenia in particular should be considered. The causes of thrombocytopenia in children are mostly infections or an autoimmune event. In addition to the frequent causes of cytopenia, extremely rare diseases should be included in the differential diagnostic considerations. Based on selected patients with cytopenia from the St. Anna Children’s Hospital in Vienna, Austria, this overview article shows how difficult the diagnosis in pediatric hematology can be, particularly when the changes in the phenotypic blood count are caused by extremely rare pathological disorders.