Acquired pure red cell aplasia--a case report

A married female patient of 36 years with chronic anaemia, because of pure erythroid aplasia with a haemolytic component and hypothyroidism due to antithyroid auto-antibodies, was subsequently discovered as a case of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). She was treated with corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy and her anaemia was corrected. The response of erythroid aplasia to corticosteroid and other immunosuppressive agents suggests that immunological factors play a role in erythroid aplasia in SLE. The occurrence of red cell aplasia in association with a variety of immune phenomenon supports the concept that in SLE, erythroid aplasia may be of immune aetiology.