Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Hematology and Hematological Malignancies
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1510733

Reference Ranges for Complete Blood Count in Children and Adolescents with Down Syndrome

Provisionally accepted
Martina Lattuada Martina Lattuada 1*Giulia Capitoli Giulia Capitoli 2Marco Casati Marco Casati 3Alessandra Lazzerotti Alessandra Lazzerotti 4Oscar Maglia Oscar Maglia 5Giulia Maria Ferrari Giulia Maria Ferrari 4Chiara Fossati Chiara Fossati 4Andrea Biondi Andrea Biondi 1,4Alessandro Cattoni Alessandro Cattoni 1,4Paola Corti Paola Corti 4
  • 1 School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
  • 2 Department of Medicine and Surgery, Bicocca Bioinformatics Biostatistics and Bioimaging B4 Center, University of Milano - Bicocca, Monza, Italy
  • 3 Clinical Chemistry Laboratory Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
  • 4 Pediatrics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
  • 5 Tettamanti Center, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Down syndrome (DS) is linked to unique hematopoietic characteristics that affect complete blood count (CBC) parameters. Accurate reference ranges are essential for proper CBC interpretation in this population. This retrospective study analyzed 2627 CBCs from 481 DS patients, aged 31 days to 18 years, at a tertiary care center in Italy. Patients with significant comorbidities were excluded to ensure a homogeneous group. CBC parameters were assessed to establish age-and sex-specific reference ranges. Centile charts were developed for each parameter, and an online tool was created to allow clinicians to compare individual CBC results with the new ranges. Comparisons with the general pediatric population revealed significant differences, particularly in hemoglobin, hematocrit, and mean corpuscular volume, which were higher in DS (p<0.001). In contrast, a significant percentage of CBCs showed white blood cell counts below the 2.5th centile of healthy controls (p<0.001), except for the 31 days-1 year age group. A similar trend was observed for lymphocytes (p<0.001) in the 1-18 years group. These newly established DS-specific reference ranges provide clinicians with a crucial tool for evaluating CBC results, potentially reducing unnecessary tests and emphasizing the need for tailored clinical assessment in managing this unique population.

    Keywords: Down Syndrome, Hematopoiesis, complete blood count, Reference ranges, pediatric

    Received: 13 Oct 2024; Accepted: 20 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lattuada, Capitoli, Casati, Lazzerotti, Maglia, Ferrari, Fossati, Biondi, Cattoni and Corti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Martina Lattuada, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.