Infection-associated hemophagocytic syndrome: a rare potentially fatal complication of systemic infection. Report of three cases.

Infection-associated hemophagocytic syndrome is a rare, potentially fatal complication of systemic infection. It occurs most often in immunocompromised patients associated with a viral infection but the spectrum of conditions have been broadened to include virtually every type of infectious pathogen, malignancy and immunosuppressive therapy. We present three pediatric patients with a similar clinical history of pancytopenia, hepatosplenomegaly, and acute liver failure, and discuss the autopsy findings.