Absence of circulating mast cell precursors in paediatric mastocytosis: could it reflect a different pathophysiology between adults and children with mastocytosis?

Résumé

Mastocytosis is a heterogeneous disease whose different subtypes also vary in aggressivity. Children typically present with cutaneous mastocytosis. We identified, in our previous work, a peripheral CD34-c-Kit+mast cell precursor by flow cytometry in systemic forms but not in cutaneous forms of adult mastocytosis.