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Transient Intravascular Haemolysis Associated with Alcoholic Liver Disease and Hyperlipidaemia **
Author(s) -
Powell Lawrie W.,
Roeser H. Peter,
Halliday June W.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1972.tb03906.x
Subject(s) - alcoholic liver disease , haemolysis , medicine , alcoholic hepatitis , spleen , pathology , fatty liver , hemolysis , disease , gastroenterology , cirrhosis , immunology
Summary: A 44‐year‐old male alcoholic patient developed severe intravascular haemolysis in association with alcoholic liver disease and hyperlipidaemia. In‐vitro incubation experiments provided evidence for a circulating factor in plasma which rendered his own and normal, compatible erythrocytes abnormally susceptible to mechanical damage. The disorder settled spontaneously but recurred 18 months later after a further alcoholic bout, when the presence of the abnormal plasma factor was again demonstrated. It is suggested that there is a spectrum of red cell membrane damage which may occur in association with acute alcoholic liver disease, and in its most severe form this results in intravascular lysis while less affected cells are sequestered in the spleen.