VARIABLE INVITRO ERYTHROPOIESIS IN PATIENTS WITH TRANSIENT ERYTHROBLASTOPENIA OF CHILDHOOD

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 58  (1) , 1-8
Abstract
Transient erythroblastopenia of childhood (TEC) is a pure red cell aplasia which primarily affects children in the infant and toddler age group. The clinical syndrome of TEC is well defined and is characterized by moderate to severe anemia with reticulocytopenia, selective aplasia of the erythroid bone marrow elements, and spontaneous recovery, usually within a mo. of presentation. The plasma clot tissue culture technique was utilized to explore the defect of erythropoiesis in 7 patients with TEC. Culture of bone marrow at diagnosis in 4 patients revealed an increased erythroid proliferative capacity in 1 and a decreased capacity in 3. The former patient plus 3 additional patients were found to have a transient serum inhibitor of erythroid colony formation in autologous and allogeneic systems. The 3 patients with diminished erythroid proliferative capacity had no demonstrable serum inhibitor, and in 1 patient studied the erythroid proliferative capacity became supernormal after recovery. Although TEC has a characteristic clinical picture, in vitro studies reveal a variable expression of the erythropoietic defect and support the hypothesis of a heterogeneous pathogenesis of this disorder.