Sideroblastic Anaemia in Man: Observations on Seventy Cases

D uring the past few years 70 cases of sideroblastic anaemia have been studied, many of whom were referred to us from other hospitals. Half of these patients have shown the primary, or idiopathic, form of this disorder, and half the secondary, in which another disease was associated with the sideroblastic anaemia. The main purpose of this paper is to describe the similarities and differences between these two forms of the anaemia, with particular reference to: (1) the clinical presentation and haematological features; (2) the evidence for pyridoxine deficiency and/or folic‐acid deficiency, and the haematological responses to therapy; and (3) the pathogenesis of such a deficiency state and its possible role in the production of the primary and secondary forms of sideroblastic anaemia.