Treatment of Antibody-Mediated Pure Red-Cell Aplasia with High-Dose Intravenous Gamma Globulin

PURE red-cell aplasia is a syndrome characterized by severe anemia, reticulocytopenia, and an absence of erythroid precursor cells in bone marrow that is otherwise normal. This failure of erythropoiesis has been shown to be antibody-mediated in almost half the patients with the adult form of red-cell aplasia.1 2 3 4 Immunosuppressive agents such as corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide, and antithymocyte globulin have been used to treat immunologically mediated red-cell aplasia.2 , 5 6 7 8 Results of in vitro assays for hematopoietic progenitor cells may assist in predicting which patients will respond to immunosuppressive therapy.9 10 11 Red-cell aplasia in children usually differs from the disorder in adults. There is a constitutional . . .