Premium
Red‐Cell Density in Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria
Author(s) -
Lewis S. M.,
Vincent P. C.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1968.tb07003.x
Subject(s) - lysis , paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria , chemistry , population , red blood cell , red cell , erythrocyte fragility , immunology , medicine , hemolysis , endocrinology , biochemistry , environmental health
S ummary . Density distribution of red cells has been measured in twelve patients with PNH by centrifuging blood with phthalate‐ester mixtures of varied specific gravity. Results have been compared with findings in other blood diseases and in normal subjects. The PNH red cells have an abnormally low density but normal osmotic fragility. The reason has not been established. The lightest cells had in general a greater phospholipid content than the heavier cells from the same blood sample; but not more so than in normal blood, and there did not appear to be significant variation in the phosphatide composition of the excessively light PNH cells. By the technique described it is possible to separate a limited fraction containing only the lightest 10 per cent of the cell population. This fraction contains a concentration of cells which are most susceptible to lysis in vituo; it provides a means for increasing the sensitivity of laboratory tests on PNH blood, and it has enabled a diagnosis to be made in an obscure case when the standard in‐vitro lysis tests on whole blood have been negative.