Pure red cell aplasia heralding chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia

Acquired pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) in adults is an uncommon condition which is associated with a thymoma in approximately 50% of patients (Ammus & Yunis 1987). It has also been reported in association with a wide variety of other conditions including occasional haematological malignancies when it occurs at the height of the disease, and carcinoma when the red cell aplasia may precede the diagnosis of malignancy by up to 3 years (Ammus & Yunis 1987). We report two cases of PRCA which antedated the appearance of chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) by a period of 3 months.