Rare causes of anemia in children: Two cases of idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis

Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (IPH) is a rare cause of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) with unknown etiology. Hemoptysis, dyspnea, anemia, diffuse infiltration in chest radiography and presence of hemosiderin-loaded macrophages (HLMs) in the sputum, gastric content or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) are the major characteristics for diagnosis of IPH. Here we present two pediatric patients with IPH. Patient 1 was repeatly misdiagnosed with bronchopneumonia because of diffuse infiltration in her chest X ray, but her anemia was repeatedly ignored. Patient 2 was misdiagnosed with nutritional anaemia because she did not have dyspnea or hemoptysis, and her chest computed tomography (CT) only revealed mild alveolar infiltrates. IPH must be included in the differential diagnosis in patients with long-term anemia who respond poorly to the hematopoietic supplements. CT is superior to X-ray in detecting alveolar hemorrhage.