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Severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia complicating hereditary spherocytosis is life threatening and has not been described in a case report. Here, we report a case in which this intractable disease was treated successfully with glucocorticoids and cyclosporine. A 25-year-old female patient with hereditary spherocytosis developed severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia after respiratory syncytial virus infection. Her hemoglobin level was 26 g/L and various anti-red blood cell antibodies were detected in her serum, making blood matching difficult. Glucocorticoid monotherapy was ineffective. With the addition of cyclosporine (50 mg/12 h), the patient's hemoglobin level increased significantly and the symptoms associated with anemia were greatly relieved. In patients with severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia, especially when the presence of multiple anti-red blood cell antibodies and alloantibodies interferes with blood matching, a glucocorticoid-cyclosporine regimen may be tried. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is still a very useful adjunct for hematological diagnosis in the era of molecular techniques. In this article, the main applications of TEM to the cellular identification of normal myeloid cells, the study of dyserythropoietic conditions, myelodysplastic syndromes, congenital dyserythropoietic anemias, acute myeloid leukemias, and lymphoproliferative disorders, as well as the application of ultrastructural cytochemical reactions in hematological diagnosis, are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]