A woman in her 60s with multifactorial anaemia

Tidsskrift for den Norske lægeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny række
Svein-Oskar FrigstadBjørn Moum

Abstract

Anaemia may be multifactorial in origin. We present a woman with autoimmune hepatitis and secondary warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and most likely also concomitant anaemia of chronic disease. A relapse of autoimmune haemolysis was successfully treated with steroids and high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin. At the same time, bleeding from angiodysplasia in the coecum was masked by unauthorised perorally administrated iron. No other cause of bleeding was found. During that period, she required extensive blood transfusions, up to several times per month. Surgical or endoscopic treatment of the bleeding angiodysplasia was not possible. Alloimmunisation developed as a complication to the large number of transfusions, despite the use of steroids. Treatment with somatostatin analogue markedly reduced the need of our patient for blood transfusions for a follow-up period of more than one year, and she has not experienced any side effects. We do not know how long the haemostasis achieved will last, however, we believe that this treatment may be an alternative for other patients as bleeding from angiodysplasia is not uncommon and is often difficult to eradicate.

References

Oct 1, 1996·Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology·M R Andersen, J Aaseby
Aug 26, 1998·The American Journal of Gastroenterology·J S Barkin, B S Ross
Mar 11, 2005·The New England Journal of Medicine·Guenter Weiss, Lawrence T Goodnough
Jun 3, 2009·Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology·Albert J Czaja
Nov 10, 2009·Tidsskrift for den Norske lægeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny række·Sigbjørn BerentsenGeir E Tjønnfjord

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anemia

Anemia develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. Here is the latest research on anemia.

Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases occur as a result of an attack by the immune system on the body’s own tissues resulting in damage and dysfunction. There are different types of autoimmune diseases, in which there is a complex and unknown interaction between genetics and the environment. Discover the latest research on autoimmune diseases here.

Autoimmune Hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis formerly called lupoid hepatitis, is a chronic, autoimmune disease of the liver that occurs when the body's immune system attacks liver cells causing the liver to be inflamed. Discover the latest research on autoimmune hepatitis here.

Related Papers

The Journal of Maternal-fetal & Neonatal Medicine : the Official Journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians
Roberta OnesimoPiero Valentini
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved