Clinical analysis of 60 children with pneumonia complicated by neutropenia

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics and treatment of neutropenia in children with pneumonia. Methods A total of 60 children and infants with pneumonia and neutropenia admitted to Shenzhen Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from May 2016 to May 2018 were selected as case group, of which 25 children and infants were given recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor or leucoson on the basis of routine treatment, and 35 children and infants were given antiviral drugs and symptomatic treatment. Another 58 healthy children who underwent physical examination in the same period were selected as control group. Both groups were further divided into infant group and child group according to the ages of children. Blood routine examination was performed on all children and infants of the study. Cellular immunity and humoral immunity were measured, too. Results The absolute neutrophils count in peripheral blood of children was <1.5×109/L, and it was <1.0×109/L of infants. Among the 60 children and infants in case group, the total number of leukocytes was reduced in 30 cases and abnormal lymphocytes reached 10%. The mean platelet count of two subgroups in case group was higher than that in control group; the CD3+ level was lower than control group, CD4+ /CD8+ value of case group was higher than that of control group; the IgG values in case group were significantly lower than those in control group, however the IgM value were significantly higher than those in control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). After treatment, among 25 children on treated with recombinant human granulocyte stimulating factor or leucoson, there were 12 effective cases, 11 markedly effective cases, 2 ineffective cases, and the effective rate was 92.0%. Among 35 children treated by routine therapy, there were 20 effective cases, 6 markedly effective cases, 9 ineffective cases, and the effective rate was 74.3%. There was a significant difference between the two groups in effective rate (P<0.05). Conclusions The syndromes of children with pneumonia complicated by neutropenia mainly are fever, a longer course of disease, abnormalities in platelet and immune function. Routine drugs combined with leukopenia drug can greatly improve the treatment efficacy. Key words: Humoral immunity; Platelets; Cellular immunity; Fever