A Case of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Developing after Treatment for Brucellosis with Pancytopenia

Human brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease and has a wide clinical spectrum. Nonspecific hematologic abnormalities related to brucellosis are frequently found, but pancytopenia is uncommon. Malignant diseases have been infrequently reported as a rare cause of pancytopenia in patients with brucellosis. We describe a patient with brucellosis and pancytopenia who was later diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. A 71-yr-old man was admitted to a hospital with fever and pancytopenia. Brucella was cultured from blood, and the bone marrow findings were in accordance with brucellosis. The patient's clinical symptoms improved; however, he still showed pancytopenia after completion of medical treatment. After approximately 6 months, he was readmitted with pneumonia and pancytopenia. The second bone marrow examination revealed hypercellular marrow with increased number of blasts. The chromosome analysis showed 46,XY,trp(8)(q11.2q22)[8]/46,idem,del(7)(q22)[12]. The patient was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes. He refused further evaluation and therapy, and subsequently died while receiving conservative treatment.

Retraction: Experience of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Patients with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome / 대한수혈학회지

In the process of obtaining the agreement of the authors while the paper submission, some authors did not consent due to a misunderstanding between the authors. We will avoid future recurrence of these things.

Experience of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Patients with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome / 대한수혈학회지

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease recently issued in northeast Asia and China. The disease is caused by a new phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV); the transmission vector is believed to be a tick. The number of infections and resulting deaths has been increasing, but there is no effective treatment. METHODS: Clinical and laboratory features of SFTSV-positive patients during the period from May 2013 to October 2014 were reviewed retrospectively using medical records. In cases of patients who underwent therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE), the performance records were also investigated. RESULTS: During the study period, 14 patients were SFTSV-positive. The patients, who ranged in age from 47 to 82, had mostly outdoor activities before admission. The major symptoms included high fever, myalgia, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Laboratory findings showed decreased white blood cell (WBC), neutrophils and platelets and elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), and creatine phosphokinase (CK). Two patients died during the study period, however, nine patients who received TPE showed improvement. CONCLUSION: We suppose that TPE can be used for treatment of serious SFTS and gives the effect of reducing the fatality rate.