SYNDROME OF HEMOLYSIS, THROMBOPENIA AND NEPHROPATHY IN INFANCY

Abstract

Five cases of a syndrome occurring in infancy, characterized by acute hemolysis, thrombopenia and nephropathy are described. In each case the illness was preceded by a mild diarrhea, the main onslaught following after a symptom-free period of 1 to 10 days. Azotemia and oliguria were the most serious features of the disease. The convulsions exhibited by two of the patients in the introductory phase of the illness were probably due to hypertensive encephalopathy. The infants were treated with intravenously given fluids, blood transfusion and steroids. All recovered completely, though in all likelihood this was determined less by the treatment than by the extent of the renal damage present. Results of bacterial and viral studies of blood, urine, stool, throat and cerebrospinal fluid were negative in all cases. Despite the failure to identify a pathogen, the possibility that the disease was excited by an infection best fits the facts of the described cases. It is suggested that the mechanism may be an allergic response to a viral infection.