title: The acute and transient nature of idiopathic immune hemolytic anemia in childhood.
abstract: The records of 22 children with the diagnosis of idiopathic immune hemolytic anemia were reviewed. Fifty per cent of the children had a history of an antecedent infection and 32% had underlying immune deficiency or lymphoproliferative diseases. The majority (77%) of the patients had an acute self-limited disease which was frequently associated with a positive complement or nongamma Coombs test. The anemia was usually severe, and a number of the children had reticulocytopenia at the time of diagnosis. These children responded rapidly to transfusions and corticosteroids and generally remained well on follow-up. Immunosuppressive drugs did not prove useful in two patients refractory to prednisone, but splenectomy was apparently beneficial in three of four patients so treated. Mortality rate was 18%, with most of the deaths related to an underlying disease.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000744:Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003298:Coombs Test; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012156:Reticulocytes; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013156:Splenectomy
chemical_list: D007136:Immunoglobulins