Hemolytic Anemia With Thermal Sensitivity Of Red Cells

Heat-treated red cells undergo fragmentation and microspherocyte transformation in vitro. The same process occurs in vivo in severely burned persons. Zarkowsky et al. (1975) observed red cell morphology similar to that of the hemolytic anemia of burns in 3 children with congenital hemolytic anemia and demonstrated temperature-induced changes in the morphology and membrane composition of red cells. Two of the 3 patients were sibs. The parents of these 2 sibs showed normal red cell morphology and thermal sensitivity. Curiously, the sex of the patients was not stated. (See Wiley and Gill (1976) for another example of a presumed genetic, red cell membrane defect.)