• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.215-219
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• 2009

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in children, with a peak incidence at 5-14 years. Extrapulmonary manifestations occur in 20-25% of patients with M. pneumoniae infection. Most auto-antibodies that cause immune hemolytic anemia in humans are cold agglutinins. The formation of cold agglutinins is frequently observed during M. pneumoniae infections, and cold agglutinin disease usually occurs during M. pneumoniae infections. Nevertheless, severe hemolysis is exceptional. If a patient has any underlying disease related to hemolysis, it is possible to accelerate hemolysis. Hereditary spherocytosis is a common cause of hereditary hemolytic anemia resulting from red blood cell membrane defects. Hemolysis of red cells may result from corpuscular abnormalities or extracorpuscular abnormalities, such as immune or non-immune mechanisms. We report a case of hereditary spherocytosis associated with severe hemolytic anemia due to Mycoplasma pneumonia.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.181-184
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• 2009

Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia(IMHA) is one of the most common causes of anemia in small animals and immune-mediate thrombocytopenia(IMT) is also an immune mediated disease that affects small animals. The initial treatment for IMHA and IMT is medical suppression of the immune system with glucocorticoids and other immunosuppressive drugs. However, even with appropriate treatments, some animals are not responsive to the treatment and may need further immunosuppressive therapies or some alternative medicines. An eight-year-old spayed female Siamese cat with IMHA and an eight-year-old castrated male King Charles Spaniel dog with IMT were referred to the traditional medical service of the veterinary medical center. Both animals were unresponsive to steroids or other immunosuppressive treatments. Gui-Pi-Tang, one of the traditional herbal medicines, was administered to the animals. After 1-month of Gui-Pi-Tang administration, the packed cell volume(PCV) of the cat and platelets count of the dog had showed remarkable improvement. After four months of follow up in the cat, and 18 months of follow up in the dog, the improved PCV and platelet counts of the animals were maintained normally. Therefore, Gui-Pi-Tang might be considered as an alternative treatment in small animals with immune-mediated blood disorders.