Transient intravascular haemolysis associated with alcoholic liver disease and hyperlipidaemia
Powell, L.W.; Roeser, H.P.; Halliday, J.W.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine 2(1): 39-43
1972
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-8291 PMID: 4502717 Document Number: 49070
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.