Retrospective Clinical Analysis of Treatment for Primary Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

원발성 온난자가면역용혈빈혈의 치료에 대한 후향적 분석

  • Moon, Hong Seop (College of Pharmacy, Mokpo National University) ;
  • Park, Chiyoung (Department of Internal Medicine, Chosun University Hospital)
  • 문홍섭 (국립목포대학교 약학대학) ;
  • 박치영 (조선대학교병원 내과)
  • Received : 2015.07.20
  • Accepted : 2015.09.07
  • Published : 2015.09.30

Abstract

Background: Primary warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a relatively rare hematologic disorder resulting from autoantibody production against red blood cells. There has been very few studies about primary warm AIHA in South Korea because of its low incidence. We retrospectively analyzed the treatment outcome of primary warm AIHA. Method: We reviewed retrospectively the medical records of 9 primary warm AIHA patients from December 2002 to January 2015. We analyzed the causes and clinical characteristics of primary warm AIHA patients. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data in electronic medical records for 9 Korean patients with AIHA patients who were diagnosed during the period from December 2002 to January 2015 at the Regional University Hospital in Korea. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB #2015-08-007, Chosun University Hospital IRB). Results: The mean age was 52 years (range 27~78), the mean hemoglobin level was 5.0 g/dL (range 2.5~6.4 g/dL). All patients received steroids at therapeutic dosages (corticosteroid 1 mg/Kg) as first line treatment. Eight of them showed complete response (5/8, 62.5%) and partial response (3/8, 37.5%), one patient required second-line treatment with rituximab. Two patients who responded first line treatment were relapsed at 86 weeks and 24 weeks after response, respectively. Only one patient of them was retreated with corticosteroid because of anemic symptoms. Conclusion: This study indicates that oral corticosteroid is an effective therapy for primary warm AIHA.

Keywords

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