Transfusion of polymerised human haemoglobin in a patient with severe sickle-cell anaemia.
Many patients with sickle-cell anaemia have red-cell alloantibodies. We could not obtain compatible blood for a 40-year-old woman with a sickle-cell crisis after a hip operation. We transfused a polymerised human haemoglobin solution, after which the patient's pain was alleviated. This treatment, in combination with erythropoietin, resulted in a rise in our patient's haemoglobin concentration, and her eventual recovery. Increased oxygen delivery to the microcirculation might have contributed to the rapid resolution of pain after the transfusion.
Raff
Joshua P
JP
Division of Haematology, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467, USA.
Dobson
Cassandra E
CE
Tsai
Han-Mou
HM
D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D016913:Blood Component Transfusion; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans
D006454:Hemoglobins