1988 Volume 29 Issue 11 Pages 2096-2100
A 37-year-old female was admitted to our hospital in December 1983 for evaluation of severe anemia. At the time of admission, peripheral blood examination showed RBC 118×104/μl and Hb 3.7 g/dl. Reticulocyte count was 0.1%. The bone marrow aspiration showed normocellularity with abnormal lymphoid cells and a depletion of erythroid precursors (1.6% of bone marrow cells). A diagnosis of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) was made. Anemia was recovered by corticosteroid therapy. She was discharged in March 1984. However, she was admitted again in December 1986 because of anemia and lymph node swelling in cervical and mediastinal region. From the finding of the biopsied cervical lymph node, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (diffuse, mixed) was diagnosed. After combination chemotherapy with vincristine, cyclophosphamide, prednisolone and adriamycin, the lymph node swelling decreased. After 4 months from the second admission, peripheral leukocyte count increased suddenly with abnormal lymphocytes. Abnormal lymphocytes in peripheral blood and lymph node swelling disappeared by chemotherapy. But pancytopenia developed subsequently. The case reports of PRCA associated with malignant lymphoma from the literature, including this case, were reveiwed and discussed.
