Abstract
Background
This retrospective review evaluated the causes of severe eosinophilia (≥5000 eosinophils/L).
Higher eosinophilia levels are more likely to cause tissue damage and may reflect
disease severity.
Methods
We reviewed 193 cases of patients seen at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in
Boston, Massachusetts, and at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington,
Vermont, between January 2015 to May 2020 who had a peak absolute eosinophil count
of at least 5000/μL.
Results
Thirty-nine percent of cases were attributable to a hematologic or oncologic cause.
These cases had the highest mean peak absolute eosinophil count at 11,698/μL. Twenty
percent of cases were secondary to drug reactions, of which 90% took place in an inpatient
setting. Three percent of cases were from helminthic infection, the majority of which
were in returning travelers.
Conclusions
In our region of study, hematologic and oncologic cases are important causes of severe
eosinophilia, drug reactions are a common etiology in the inpatient setting, and infections
are a rare cause.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: December 22, 2020
Footnotes
Funding: None.
Conflict of Interest: None.
Authorship: All authors had access to the data and a role in writing this manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
