Hemolytic Anemia

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is most often idiopathic. However, in recent years, AIHA has been noted with increased incidence in patients receiving purine nucleoside analogues for hematologic malig-nancies; it has also been described as a complication of blood transfusion in patients who have also had alloimmunization. As the technology of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has become more wide-spread, immune hemolysis in the recipients of ABO-mismatched products has become better recognized. The syndrome is caused by passenger lymphocytes transferred from the donor, and although transient, can be quite severe. A similar syndrome has been observed in recipients of solid organ transplants when there is ABO-incompatibility between donor an