-Case Reports-

Transient Thrombocytopenia after Incompatible Red Blood Transfusion in an Infant Girl with Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

Takeshi Asano, Shinya Koizumi and Osamu Fujino

Department of Pediatrics, Chiba-Hokusoh Hospital, Nippon Medical School

We report on 5-month-old girl with severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia (hemoglobin 2.9 g/dl, positive direct Coombs test) in whom thrombocytopenia developed after red blood cell transfusion. The platelet count was 62.1 × 10⁴/mm³ on admission and rapidly fell to 6.0 × 10⁴/mm³ rapidly after transfusion of incompatible red blood cells with intravenous predonisolone administration. No increased hemolysis or alloimmunization was observed after transfusion. The platelet count and hemoglobin levels gradually improved over 8 weeks with corticosteroid therapy. We suspect that the thrombocytopenia in our patient was transfusion-induced.

J Nippon Med Sch 2006; 73: 93-96

Keywords
infant, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, incompatible blood transfusion, Evans' syndrome

Correspondence to
Takeshi Asano, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Chiba-Hokusoh Hospital, Nippon Medical School, 1715 Kamakari, Inba-mura, Inba-gun, Chiba, 270-1894, Japan
VFF13540@nifty.ne.jp

Received, December 12, 2005
Accepted, January 6, 2006