Recent Developments in Hematology and Transfusion Medicine.

Transfusion of allogeneic blood products carry a small but not negligible risk for the transmission of infections and may have immunosuppressive or immunogenic effects. The discovery, licensing, and clinical use of hematopoietic cytokines such as erythropoietin or thrombopoietin may reduce the requirements for allogeneic blood transfusions. However, the effectiveness has so far only been demonstrated in limited clinical situations. Further progress in avoiding allogeneic transfusions can be expected from the development of artificial blood cell substitutes. The potential and limits of these new techniques and substances to manage pancytopenia in cancer patients are reviewed briefly. Copyright 2000 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg

A case of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in an adult treated with vincristine.

The case of a woman with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura refractory to prolonged treatment with plasma exchange and steroid treatment is described. The addition of vincristine yielded a complete response, which has been maintained for 9 months up to the time of this report.