Pure Red Blood Cell Aplasia and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Acquired pure red blood cell (RBC) aplasia (PRCA) is a rare hematologic disorder characterized by anemia, absence of reticulocytosis, erythroid hypoplasia in the bone marrow, and no abnormalities of the myeloid and megakaryocytic lines.1,2The anemia is severe and generally normochromic and normocytic. Approximately 50% of adults with PRCA have thymomas.3-5It has also been associated with a variety of disorders including neoplasms,6preleukemic states,1,7riboflavin deficiency,8renal failure,9and exposure to drugs.10Pure RBC aplasia has been reported also in adults who have no other medical disorders or history of exposure to toxins.2 Dameshek and colleagues have referred to occasional cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in which the anemia was associated with erythroblastopenia and reticulocytopenia.4Tatarsky11and Stohlman et al12have recently described PRCA as a rare cause of anemia in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Our report describes a