title: Transfusion of polymerised human haemoglobin in a patient with severe sickle-cell anaemia.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Haematology, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Raff
authors.forename: Cassandra E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.forename: Han-Mou
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D016913:Blood Component Transfusion; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins