Hematologic features of chronic renal failure associated with spinal cord injury

We examined the available hematologic data on 43 spinal cord injury (SCI) patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treated with hemodialysis since 1972. A control group consisting of 45 ESRD patients without SCI was included for comparison. Moderate to severe anemia was found in all patients. The observed anemia was generally normocytic, normochromic, and associated with a low reticulocyte response. Transfusion requirement in the SCI group was considerably more than in the control group. There was a high incidence of splenomegaly, splenic amyloidosis, and lymph node enlargement in the SCI group. Lymph node and bone marrow amyloid deposits were found in some SCI patients but not in the control subjects.