Pediatric Emergency Medicine Journal  2017;4(1):25-28

doi:10.22470/pemj.2017.00010

A 4-year-old girl presenting with facial palsy, found to have increased delta neutrophil index, and diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with extramedullary infiltration.

Seo Hee YOON 1 ; Se Hee KIM ; Mi Jung LEE ; Ho Joon LEE ; Chuhl Joo LYU ; Moon Kyu KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Child; Facial Paralysis; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neutrophils

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Although Bell's palsy is the most common cause of facial palsy in children, some cases have potentially fatal causes. We report a rare case of isolated facial palsy in a 4-year-old girl whose diagnosis was acute myeloid leukemia with extramedullary infiltration. The findings of laboratory investigations were nonspecific at presentation except that the delta neutrophil index was 34.5% (reference range, 0%–5%). To avoid hasty diagnosis of Bell's palsy in children with isolated facial palsy, vigilant differential diagnosis and workup are recommended.