CMV-induced immune thrombocytopenia and excessive hematogones mimicking an acute B-precursor lymphoblastic leukemia.

Hematogones (B-lymphocyte progenitor-precursor cells) are normal bone marrow constituents which are morphologically distinct lymphoid cells with homogeneous, condensed uniform nuclear chromatin and scant cytoplasm. Hematogones can be observed in large numbers in the bone marrow of children with a variety of hematologic and nonhematologic disorders.We present here a 3.5-month-old boy with cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced immune thrombocytopenia and excessive hematogones in the bone marrow mimicking an acute B-precursor lymphoblastic leukemia. To our knowledge this is the first case of acute CMV infection-induced immune thrombocytopenia with hematogones.