Unusual warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled Unusual warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (Ann Clin Lab Sci. 2008 Summer;38(3):273-6.). Authors are Boctor FN Gorak E, Prichard JW, et al., from the Division of Laboratory Medicine, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, USA. Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA), a rare disease, ranges from an indolent form with mild hemolysis to a life-threatening condition that necessitates transfusion of incompatible red cells. WAIHA can be either idiopathic or secondary to medications or to a lymphoproliferative disorder. We report a case of profound hemolytic anemia in a liver-transplant eligible patient who was diagnosed with cirrhosis secondary to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). He developed acute renal failure that required dialysis. Subsequent management included plasmapheresis and rituximab. The patient developed hepatorenal syndrome and died from progressive hepatic failure. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between NASH and WAIHA. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.