title: Leukaemoid reaction in Eastern Highlands children.
abstract: In the five year period 1973-77, 278 children in Goroka Hospital paediatric ward were found to have a white cell count (W.C.C.) over 30,000/mm3. Of those with a W.C.C. over 40,000/mm3 in 1977 where the outcome was known, 13 of the 17 (76%) died. It is suggested that "leukaemoid reaction" in Highlands children be defined as a total W.C. over 40,000/mm3 that is not due to leukaemia. A leukaemoid reaction is a useful, but grave, prognostic sign. Such children comprise a quarter of all deaths in the Goroka paediatric ward.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007955:Leukemoid Reaction / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D009512:New Guinea; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000150:complications; D011379:Prognosis; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012189:Retrospective Studies