Acute hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a life-threatening disease, with
an annual incidence of 1 : 800,000 people. The disease is characterized by a cytokine
storm, with concomitant macrophage and natural killer (NK) cell activation; death
can occur from multiple organ failure or complications such as bleeding diathesis.
Therefore, HLH treatment remains a challenging one. We hereby present a case of a
76-year-old man with severe HLH in whom hemoadsorption was successfully applied. Due
to the failure of the immunomodulatory therapy , continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration
therapy with the CytoSorb (R) adsorber was successfully applied for 48 hours. Upon
therapy discontinuation, the biological and clinical condition reverted, unfortunately
evolving towards the patient's death.
