Chronic Neutropenia in Children With Abscess Forming Cervical Lymphadenitis Caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Suppurative cervical lymphadenitis is rare in children with limited information about the frequency of neutropenia in any series.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of pediatric patients in whom suppurative cervical lymphadenitis was diagnosed between April 2011 and March 2016 at a tertiary children's hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Microbiologically confirmed cases of cervical lymphadenitis with abscess formation were included in the analysis.

Results: Twenty-five patients (median age, 1 yr old; 64% female) with abscess formation caused by Staphylococcus aureus were identified. Among these 25 patients, 5 (20%) met the criteria for chronic neutropenia and 4 (80%) received the final diagnosis of autoimmune neutropenia based on the identification of the serum anti-CD16 antibodies.

Conclusions: Chronic neutropenia and autoimmune neutropenia were relatively common among infants with suppurative cervical lymphadenitis caused by S. aureus.