Serum Polysaccharide and Fever in Thrombocytopenic Bleeding of Leukemia

Evidence indicates that bleeding is associated with fever in critically thrombocytopenic leukemic children. It appears that fever, generally the result of secondary infection, is associated with elevations of protein-bound serum polysaccharide. Polysaccharide and platelets are quantitatively independent but both excess polysaccharide and critical deficiency of platelets have direct relationships to the hemorrhagic diathesis in leukemic children. Implications are discussed.