Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 26, 2022; 10(36): 13349-13355
Published online Dec 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i36.13349
Pregnancy-induced leukocytosis: A case report
Xi Wang, Yang-Yang Zhang, Yang Xu
Xi Wang, Yang-Yang Zhang, Yang Xu, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Author contributions: Wang X and Xu Y wrote the manuscript with contributions from all other authors; Zhang Y performed the topic selection, designed the study and edited the manuscript; All authors contributed to and reviewed the final manuscript.
Supported by Scientific Research Seed Fund of Peking University First Hospital to Xi Wang, No. 2020SF30.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent has been obtained from the patient for publication of this Case report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yang Xu, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital, No. 8 Xishiku Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100034, China. xuyang2008001@sina.com
Received: July 31, 2022
Peer-review started: July 31, 2022
First decision: August 22, 2022
Revised: September 24, 2022
Accepted: November 30, 2022
Article in press: November 30, 2022
Published online: December 26, 2022
Processing time: 148 Days and 5.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Pregnancy is a complex physiological process. Physiological leukocytosis occurs often and is mainly associated with increased neutrophil counts, especially in the third trimester of pregnancy. Non-congenital leukocytosis with white blood cell counts above 20 × 109/L lasting 13 wk during pregnancy is rare and has been reported occasionally. Herein, we present a case of pregnancy-induced leukocytosis.

CASE SUMMARY

We present the case of a 33-year-old Chinese woman at 27 wk of gestation who had a leukocytosis complication. No abnormalities were detected in the examinations before pregnancy or in the first trimester. From the third trimester of pregnancy, the patient began to suffer from asymptomatic leukocytosis. We administered antibiotics to treat the patient; however, the complication persisted until the patient underwent a cesarean section after 40+3 wk of gestation. One day after the cesarean section, the patient’s neutrophil count returned to normal. After 2 years of follow-up, we found that the patient and baby were healthy.

CONCLUSION

Pregnancy-induced leukocytosis seems to be associated with immunoregulation and pregnancy termination may be the most effective treatment approach for pregnancies complicated with malignant leukocytosis.

Keywords: Leukocytosis; Pregnancy; In vitro fertilization; Malignancy; Case report

Core Tip: Physiological leukocytosis often occurs and is mainly associated with increased neutrophil levels. We present the case of a Chinese woman in her 27th wk of gestation who had the complication of leukocytosis with a white blood cell count above 20 × 109/L for 13 wk. One day after a cesarean section, the patient’s neutrophil levels returned to normal. After 2 years of follow-up, the patient and baby were found to be healthy. During pregnancy, asymptomatic leukocytosis appears to be related to immunoregulation and termination of pregnancy may be an effective treatment approach in pregnancies with malignant leukocytosis.