Studies on Pure Red Cell Aplasia

An 1 8-yr-old female with chronic active The patient’s plasma was cytotoxic for hepatitis developed a severe anemia due erythroblasts. Following splenectomy, a to a lack of red cell production. Her bane remission of the disease occurred. This marrow showed many large proerythrostudy indicates that in some cases the blasts but an almost complete lack of more anemia associated with abundant marrow mature erythroblasts. Incubation of the proerythroblasts and the absence of mamarrow cells in a normal medium with ture erythroblasts has the same pathoerythropoietin concentrate led to increased genesis as pure red cell aplasia and that erythropoiesis as indicated by the developsplenectomy may be beneficial when there ment of mature erythroblasts as well as a is a lack of response to immunosuppressive ninefold increase in hemoglobin synthesis. drugs.