[Immunologic hemolytic anemia. From autoimmunity to anti-medication immunization]

The serological investigation of auto-immune hemolytic anemias based on the direct antiglobulin test, the study of the serum and the eluate allows a classification of the auto-immune hemolytic anemia which is still valid and correlates well with the clinical features. The use of new techniques should increase the sensitivity of the tests but also stress the problem of the frontier between physiological and pathological states. The use of monoclonal antibodies of defined specificity would be an useful tool for the immunohematological classification of the auto-immune hemolytic anemias. The addition of new therapeutical means should improve the prognosis of these anemias. The increasing consumption of drugs and the development of the investigations of the adverse reactions including the hemolytic anemias have allowed the emergence of new pathogenic concepts. The gravity of the clinical evolution of some of these immune hemolytic anemias stress the necessity of an adequate therapeutic survey and the development of new means of diagnostic. The clinicians should be aware of the possibility of cross reactivity for drug dependent antibodies with other components of related chemical structure.