Acute bone marrow necrosis caused by streptococcal infection.

An 8 year old boy with a furuncle on the dorsum of the right foot, high fever, severe pain in the right knee joint, slight hepatosplenomegaly, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia was admitted with the working diagnosis of acute leukemia. However, an abundance of necrotic cells, together with clusters of streptococci, could be demonstrated in the bone marrow aspirate. After antibiotic therapy the boy recovered completely.