1/7. Coeliac disease in adults: variations on a theme.In childhood, coeliac disease (gluten enteropathy) tends to show itself with failure to thrive and growth retardation; in adult life with malabsorption syndromes. We report six cases in adults who presented atypically, with features including clotting disorder, hypoglycaemia, weight loss, anaemia and angina pectoris, all of which responded to gluten withdrawal.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = anaemia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/7. Three episodes of delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions due to multiple red cell antibodies, anti-Di, anti-Jk and anti-E.There is no report in which three episodes of delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction (DHTR) occurred from multiple antibodies to red cells (RBCs) in the course of treatment of a patient. This paper describes episodes of anemia and hyperbilirubinemia in concert with the development of three alloantibodies in a multiple transfused patient. The patient was a 71-year-old male suffering from valvular heart disease and hemophilia b with a history of transfusions. Although he received compatible RBCs from 14 donors as judged by a crossmatch test using the albumin-antiglobulin method, three episodes of DHTR occurred after surgery. The first hemolytic episode on day 7 after surgery was due to anti-Di(a) because of clinical and laboratory evidence which included jaundice, sudden increases in total bilirubin (T-Bil) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels, and a decrease (2.2 g/dl) in hemoglobin (Hb) level. The second hemolytic episode on day 16 resulted from newly producted anti-Jk(b). The patient experienced fever, fatigue, nausea and anorexia, and laboratory data showed a second increase in T-Bil, a second decrease (3 g/dl) in Hb, and moderate elevations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CRE) levels. The third hemolytic episode on day 39 was due to anti-E. The patient complained of fever and fatigue and had a third unexplained drop (1.5 g/dl) in Hb despite no bleeding. This is the first reported case in which three episodes of DHTR occurred from different red cell antibodies.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4.1490343943685keywords = hemolytic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/7. mycobacterium genavense infection in a patient with long-standing chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.We describe the first case of disseminated infection with mycobacterium genavense in an hiv-seronegative patient with a chronic haematological disorder. Our patient, an 80-year-old woman, had been under long-term treatment with chlorambucil (partially in combination with prednisone) for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL). When she developed general fatigue and progressive anaemia, as well as progressive lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly, bone marrow biopsy revealed granulomas with acid-fast bacilli, and cultures of both bone marrow and blood grew M. genavense. The patient's CD4 cell count was approximately 100 microL(-1). Treatment with clarithromycin, ethambutol and rifabutin resulted in improvement of anaemia and general health as well as in regression of lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = anaemia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/7. Pernicious anaemia in Africans.Ten cases of pernicious anaemia seen over a 15-year period (1973-1988) in a Lagos hospital are presented. Their ages ranged from 34 to 67 with a mean of 53.6 years. Females outnumbered males 6 to 4. Complications seen include gastric carcinoma, myelopathy, peripheral neuropathy, skin hyperpigmentation, hair depigmentation and diarrhoea. Reluctance to consider the diagnosis owing to firmly held notions of its rarity and a penchant for empirically treating chronic anaemias with all available haematinics and blood transfusion are probably contributory to its underdiagnosis. The fact that seven of the patients presented were seen in the last three years and three of them in the last one year raises the possibility of an increasing incidence of pernicious anaemia in Africans. The disease may be much less rare in Africans than once believed, and medical education should emphasize its existence and advocate greater care in the management of chronic anaemias.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8keywords = anaemia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/7. Diagnostic and management strategies for anaemia in adults.BACKGROUND: Anaemia is often an incidental finding or is discovered when patients present with nonspecific symptoms such as tiredness. OBJECTIVE: This article presents strategies to identify the cause of anaemia and uses four case studies to illustrate these principles. DISCUSSION: Few diagnostic tests can completely rule in or rule out causes of anaemia. This makes the investigation of anaemia complex. An understanding of the limitations of tests in aiding diagnosis is required.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 7keywords = anaemia (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/7. Intravascular lymphoma - a rare cause of hemolytic anemia and neurologic disorders.Intravascular lymphoma is an uncommon and often overlooked form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma characterized by extensive proliferation of lymphoid cells within the lumina of small and medium-sized vessels. Clinical symptoms of the disease are variable and often nonspecific, mostly neurologic in nature. With an aggressive course, intravascular lymphomatosis has a poor prognosis and is rarely diagnosed ante mortem. We describe here a 76-year-old woman with the clinical diagnoses of hemolytic anemia and progressive lethargy where intravascular lymphomatosis turned out as the underlying cause of the disease.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5931464964803keywords = hemolytic (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/7. Improvement in the symptoms of smooth muscle dystonia during eculizumab therapy in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.Aberrant smooth muscle dystonia during hemolytic episodes in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is implicated in the symptoms of abdominal pain, dysphagia and erectile dysfunction. Here we report two PNH patients treated with the complement inhibitor, eculizumab. Complement inhibition has been sustained for over 2 years and results in resolution of intravascular hemolysis and amelioration of symptoms associated with smooth muscle contractions.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.51862929929606keywords = hemolytic (Clic here for more details about this article) |