title: Hereditary Spherocytosis Unmasked by Human Parvovirus B19 Induced Aplastic Crisis in a Family.
abstract: Human parvovirus (HPV) B19 induced aplastic crisis in a family leading to the diagnosis of hereditary spherocytosis (HS) is a very rare condition being barely reported in the literature. We herein report a 4-year-old girl, her brother, and their mother who all presented with progressive pallor and jaundice after a febrile illness. The HPV B19 was diagnosed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and positive serology for specific anti-HPV B19 IgM. They were further diagnosed with having HS. The clinical importance of this report is that in the case of an abrupt onset of unexplained severe anemia and jaundice, one should consider underlying hemolytic anemias mostly hereditary spherocytosis complicated by HPV B19 aplastic crisis. Herein, we report the occurrence of this condition, simultaneously in three members of a family. The distinguished feature of this report is that all affected family members developed some degrees of transient pancytopenia, not only anemia, all simultaneously in the course of their disease.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Congenital Hematologic Disorders Research Center, Mofid Children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Samin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alavi
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Congenital Hematologic Disorders Research Center, Mofid Children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arabi
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Congenital Hematologic Disorders Research Center, Mofid Children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Kaji
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Yazdi
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Congenital Hematologic Disorders Research Center, Mofid Children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Taghi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Arzanian
authors.affiliation: Keyvan Virology Laboratory, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farahnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zohrehbandian
keywords: Hereditary spherocytosis; Pancytopenia; Parvovirus B19