Successful treatment of a patient with posthepatitic severe aplastic anemia with bolus methylprednisolone.

A 31-year-old female developed severe aplastic anemia following acute non-A non-B hepatitis. Because of the impossibility of bone marrow transplantation, bolus methylprednisolone therapy was done. Soon after the therapy, pancytopenia improved. She has since taken mepitiostane and no longer needs blood transfusions. Good response to the immunosuppressive therapy suggests that the pathogenesis of this anemia is related to the immune system. In vitro culture demonstrated that the patient's serum contained a factor which suppressed hematopoietic activity, possibly gamma-interferon.