Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection presenting as neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and acute hepatitis in a child

Chun-Jung Chen¹, Chun-Jung Juan^2,3, Mu-Ling Hsu¹, Yuan-Sheng Lai¹, Shih-Peng Lin¹, Shin-Nan Cheng¹
Departments of ¹Pediatrics and ²Radiology, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei; ³Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC

Received: February 13, 2003 Revised: May 8, 2003 Accepted: July 16, 2003

Corresponding author: Dr. Shin-Nan Cheng, Department of Pediatrics, Tri-Service General Hospital, No. 325, Cheng-Kung Road, Section 2, Neihu, Taipei, Taiwan 114, ROC. E-mail:

Extrapulmonary manifestations of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia are uncommon and include hematologic, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, dermatologic, and neurologic complications. We report a case of serologically-confirmed M. pneumoniae infection complicated by severe neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, and hepatitis. The presence of antiplatelet and antineutrophil antibodies suggested that these autoantibodies caused the cytopenias. The disease had an acute course and the patient recovered after steroid treatment. This case indicates that neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and hepatitis are possible clinical manifestations of M. pneumoniae infection.

Key words: Acute, hepatitis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia

J Microbiol Immunol Infect 2004;37:128-130.