Mondo Description Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is a rare immune disease and a potentially life-threatening disorder characterized by cytokine storm and overwhelming inflammation causing fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperferritinemia, and hemophagocytosis in bone marrow, liver, spleen or lymph nodes. It can be either primary due to a genetic defect (primary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis), or secondary to malignancies, to infections, most commonly with viruses such as Epstein-Barr virus or cytomegalovirus, human immunodeficiency virus, or to autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus or adult-onset Still disease (secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis).

Disease Ontology Description A lymphatic system disease that is characterized by an expansion of the monocyte-macrophage population and intense hemophagocytosis. It can occur de novo, but more often occurs in the setting of another disorder, usually an infection or a malignancy. A clinical picture of fever, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and peripheral pancytopenia. The morphologic hallmark of this syndrome is the phagocytosis of hematopoietic elements by morphologically normal macrophages.