The following criteria are required in order to diagnose JMML:

 

All 3 of the following:

• No Philadelphia chromosome or BCR/ABL fusion gene.
• Peripheral blood monocytosis >1 x 10⁹/L.
• Less than 20% blasts (including promonocytes) in the blood and bone marrow (blast count is less than 2% on average)

2 or more of the following criteria:

• Hemoglobin F increased for age.
• Immature granulocytes and nucleated red cells in the peripheral blood.
• White blood cell count>1 x 10⁹/L.
• Clonal chromosomal abnormality (e.g., monosomy 7).
• Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) hypersensitivity of myeloid progenitors in vitro.

These criteria are identified through blood tests and bone marrow tests.

Blood tests:
A Combined Blood Count (CBC) will be performed on a child suspected of having JMML and throughout the treatment and recovery of a child diagnosed with JMML. The blood components checked in a CBC and their normal levels in infants and children are listed in the table below*:

* -- Normal Ranges from Oregon Health &Science University website

For more information on CBCs, see:

• http://www.medicinenet.com/complete_blood_count/article.htm
• http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/003642res.htm
• http://health.yahoo.com/ency/healthwise/hw4260/hw4305
• Virtual Children's Hospital

Suggestions for preparing a child for a CBC, biopsy, xray or other procedure:

• Infants
• Toddler s

For more information on Bone Marrow aspirations and biopsies, see:

• http://www.medicinenet.com/bone_marrow/article.htm

NOTE:
JMML can show many of the same signs as infectious diseases like Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus 6, histoplasma, mycobacteria, and toxoplasma. Therefore, it is important that your doctor rule out these other potential causes of your child’s symptoms during the diagnosis process.

If you need help with some of the medical terms included in these pages, please use the NIH Medical Glossary.