Pregnancy-associated haemolytic anaemia: A cause not to be forgotten

Katherine Creeper; Dorothy Graham

doi:10.1177/1753495X211045337

Pregnancy-associated haemolytic anaemia: A cause not to be forgotten

Obstet Med. 2023 Mar;16(1):59-61. doi: 10.1177/1753495X211045337. Epub 2021 Nov 20.

Authors

Katherine Creeper¹, Dorothy Graham^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetric Medicine, King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia.
² Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.

Abstract

Anaemia in pregnancy is common, however, only a few cases of pregnancy-associated autoimmune haemolytic anaemia have been documented. Typically, such cases involve a positive direct antiglobulin test and have the potential to cause haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. Rarely, no autoantibodies are detected. We report two cases of direct antiglobulin test negative haemolytic anaemia occurring in multiparous women with no cause found. Both women had a haematological response to corticosteroid therapy and delivery.

Keywords: Anaemia; autoimmune; haematological; haemolysis; pregnancy.