Monophasic CIDP Associated with Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia.

Unlike other autoimmune polyneuropathies, the linkage between chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and other immune mediated disorders is weak. We report a patient who developed monophasic and parallel courses of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy. Both resolved in tandem with corticosteroid therapy. Distinct from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) or myasthenia gravis, CIDP has a relatively weak association with other autoimmune disorders. Two previous reports have described patients with Evans syndrome (concurrent AIHA and thrombocytopenia [ITP]) who subsequently developed demyelinating polyneuropathy. In the first report1, the patient presented with Evans syndrome and developed GBS several years later; while the second report described a patient with treated Evans syndrome who developed a relapse accompanied by the development of GBS2. Knecht and colleagues3 also described a patient with pre-existing CIDP who developed Evans syndrome after a 17 month course of immunomodulatory therapy. Marsh and colleagues4 reported a patient with AIHA developing 18 months after treatment of CIDP with alemtuzumab. These rare cases suggest a potential linkage between AIHA (or other autoimmune hematologic disorders) and CIDP. Here, we describe a patient who developed concurrent monophasic and parallel courses of AIHA and CIDP, both of which responded to a short course of corticosteroid therapy.