RT Book, Section A1 Swaminathan, Sankar A2 Kaushansky, Kenneth A2 Prchal, Josef T. A2 Burns, Linda J. A2 Lichtman, Marshall A. A2 Levi, Marcel A2 Linch, David C. SR Print(0) ID 1178758302 T1 Mononucleosis Syndromes T2 Williams Hematology, 10e YR 2021 FD 2021 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781260464122 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1178758302 RD 2024/03/28 AB SUMMARYThe defining clinical features of a mononucleosis syndrome are fever and reactive lymphocytes in the blood. The two most common causes of mononucleosis are Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. The clinical manifestations of EBV and CMV mononucleosis depend on a vigorous host response to the viral infection. Patients who become infected without a host response develop antibodies to the virus but no or minimal clinical manifestations. Several clinical similarities exist between EBV and CMV mononucleosis. Both infections have a febrile prodrome before the mononucleosis phase develops. Both infections can induce fever, an enlarged spleen, and an erythematous skin rash—the mononucleosis phase. The disease is self-limited in the vast majority of patients, although resolution may take several weeks, especially in older individuals. In both viral infections, lymphocytes represent greater than 50% of blood cells, and at least 10% are reactive lymphocytes. Differences in clinical and laboratory findings are observed. Severe pharyngitis and tender lymph node enlargement, often in several lymph node groups, occur in infection with EBV and perhaps with some unknown agents but not to the same degree in infections with CMV. The majority of cases of EBV mononucleosis occur in teenagers and young adults, whereas CMV-induced disease occurs most commonly in adults in their 30s–60s. A much larger percentage of adults have unrecognized primary infection with CMV than with EBV. EBV results in the development of heterophile antibodies, active against sheep and horse red cells (among others), but this development does not occur in CMV. The pathway leading to lymphocytosis and reactive lymphocytes differs between the two agents. The B cells are infected in EBV infection, which eventually may lead to hematologic malignancy, whereas the macrophages are infected in CMV. This may explain its important role after allogeneic transplantation. In both infections, T and natural killer lymphocytes are the reactive cells that contribute to the leukocytosis observed in the blood. Other agents, including Toxoplasma gondii, human immune deficiency virus type 1, and several other viruses, can cause a mononucleosis-like syndrome with reactive lymphocytes in the blood.