Congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia: response to splenectomy and quantitation of ineffective erythropoiesis.

The clinical and haematological features of an unusual case of congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia are described. There was a pronounced haemolytic component to the anaemia, with a mean cell life of five days, and a remarkable response to splenectomy. Measurement of the incorporation of 15N glycine into the haem of circulating red cells and into bilirubin showed that haem turnover due to ineffective erythropoiesis was increased 45 times compared with a control group (11.63 mg/kg/day, NR = 0.26 + 0-10) and represented 51% of total erythroid haem turnover.