Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 15 2 2020 06 07 214 222 Shaghik BARANI Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Habibollah TURKI Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran Reza SHAFIEI Vector-Borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran Fatemeh JAFARZADEH Department of Parasitology, Shahid Beheshti Universtiy of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Hoda HOSSEINZADEH MALEKI Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Saber RAEGHI Department of Laboratory Sciences, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, Iran 2020 06 07 Background: To characterize the epidemiological, clinical, hematological and biochemical features of 33 cases hospitalized with pediatric visceral leishmaniasis (PVL) in North Khorasan Province of Iran from 2005 to 2015. Methods: The serological, hematological and biochemical tests were employed in 33 children between 8 months to 6 yr with a final diagnosis of acute visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The diagnosis of VL was established by microscopic demonstration of Leishmania spp. amastigotes inactive bone marrow aspiration (BMA). Results: The most common presenting features were anemia (82.5%), fever (75%), and hepatosplenomegaly (45.4%). Various hematological parameters showed that most patients were suffering from moderate to severe microcytic hypochromic anemia (78.8% had RBC count less than 4 million cells/ul, 67.7% Hb less than 8 fl). 66.7% of them were leukopenic (WBC: less than 5× 103 /μL) and 24.2% had decreased platelet counts. Pancytopenia was observed in 18.2% of cases. MCV, MCH, and MCHC levels were below the reference range in 88%, 90% and 85.1% of the patients respectively. Moreover, aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels were increased in 53.33% and 6.66% of the patients respectively. 92.9% of cases were C-reactive protein (CRP) positive. Bone marrow was found hyper-cellular in all of them, and myeloid to erythroid ratio (M/E) was more than 4 in 39.1% of cases. Plasma cells slightly were increased in 60% of patients and megakaryocytes were decreased in thrombocytopenic patients. Conclusion: Bone marrow/splenic aspiration still remains the gold standard test despite its risk and pain for patients. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/2942 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/2942/1033