Treatment of Pure Red-Cell Aplasia With Cyclosporine in a Renal Transplant Patient

Acquired pure red-cell aplasia is a rare disorder that can be either idiopathic or associated with certain autoimmune diseases, pregnancy, lympho-proliferative disorders, nutritional deficiencies, or medicines. We present a deceased-donor renal transplant patient who developed pure red-cell aplasia associated with mycophenolate mofetil or tacrolimus and was treated with cyclosporine. A 20-year-old woman was transplanted from a deceased donor 1 month earlier and presented to us with symptoms of fatigue, prostration, and palpitation. The results of a laboratory examination revealed anemia. A diagnostic work-up resulted in a diagnosis of pure red-cell aplasia. Mycophenolate mofetil was discontinued. Tacrolimus also was replaced with cyclosporine 2 months after mycophenolate mofetil was halted because of a lack of improvement in anemia. Three months later, her anemia improved with cyclosporine. Starting cyclosporine instead of tacrolimus or mycophenolate mofetil showed good improvement in our patient within 6 months of therapy.