Pediatric Acute Myelocytic Leukemia Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Oct 22, 2020
  • Author: Mark E Weinblatt, MD; Chief Editor: Jennifer Reikes Willert, MD  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

Children may not have well-known symptoms of leukemia, such as adenopathy, overt bleeding, and serious infections. Nonspecific symptoms, such as fatigue, irritability, fevers, and bruising, are common in childhood and might not be recognized as symptoms of leukemia, thus delaying a diagnosis of leukemia. Persistence of these symptoms should prompt further investigation.

Differentials in the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, aside from those listed in the next section, include the following:

  • Aplastic anemia

  • Drug-induced pancytopenia

  • Viral-induced pancytopenia

  • Systemic lupus erythematosus

  • Neuroblastoma

  • Transient myeloproliferative syndrome in Down syndrome

Differential Diagnoses