Haemolysis and cation transport in hereditary spherocytosis.

Inherited forms of anaemia were only generally recognized at the turn of this century and Osler's textbook of Medicine (1893) lists only chlorosis and pernicious anaemia in his section on primary or essential anaemia. The first description of a case of hereditary spherocytosis was by Vanlair and Masius in 1871 and was titled "la microcythémie" to describe the microcytes found in the blood although their illustrations clearly show these to be microspherocyteso Their description, however, was incomplete and only later reports from England, France and Germany, initially independently of each other, emphasized all the features of this disease. The familial occurrence was noted by Dr Claude Wilson of Tunbridge Wells (1890) and his description of 6 cases within one family showing "hereditary enlargement of the spleen" was the first English account of hereditary spherocytosis