Significance of the detection of antineutrophil antibodies in children with chronic neutropenia.

We evaluated the clinical characteristics of 41 children with chronic neutropenia based on the quantitative analysis of antineutrophil antibodies in serum by flow cytometry. According to the strength of antineutrophil antibodies, the patients were divided into 3 groups: 12 patients presented negative antibodies, 13 patients showed weak positive antibodies, and 16 patients showed strong positive antibodies. No significant differences were seen in age of diagnosis, severity of neutropenia, and infectious complications associated with neutropenia among the 3 groups. The spontaneous resolution of neutropenia was observed in all patients with negative antibodies and in 22 of 29 patients with positive antibodies. The age of the recovery of neutropenia and the duration until spontaneous resolution of neutropenia were significantly dependent on the antibody strength at the time of diagnosis. These results demonstrate that the quantification of antineutrophil antibodies at the time of diagnosis may be useful in considering the clinical course of chronic neutropenia in childhood.