News

Uncommon cellular process in blood may help make AIHA diagnosis

Nearly half of children and teens with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) — a group of disorders that includes cold agglutinin disease (CAD)  — have signs of erythrophagocytosis, or the removal of old and damaged red blood cells by immune cells, in blood samples, a small study shows. While erythrophagocytosis…

CAD likely caused blood clot during brain surgery: Case report

Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) was the likely cause of blood clot formation during brain surgery in a 57-year-old man, despite measures to prevent his body temperature from getting too low, a case study in Turkey showed. Because the clot occurred at the site where two brain blood vessels were…

Rituximab treatment effective in combined CAD, autoimmune disease

A man with rheumatoid arthritis and cold agglutinin disease (CAD) achieved complete remission following treatment with rituximab, an antibody-based therapy commonly used off-label for CAD, a recent case study indicates. Rituximab therapy also treated the man’s cooccurring immune thrombocytopenia, an autoimmune disorder marked by the destruction of platelets, which…