Introduction Primary cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a haemolytic anaemia caused by high titres of cold antibodies, usually IgM, directed against red blood cells1,2. Cold agglutinins are present at low titres in all normal individuals, but at high concentrations, the agglutinins can have pathological consequences. In the cool peripheral circulation, cold agglutinin-coated red blood cells activ...

Cold agglutinins are autoantibodies and are often present in the sera of healthy individuals. They assume importance when the thermal reactivity of these antibodies approaches body temperature. This communication describes a case of cold hemagglutinin disease with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection detected during routine laboratory investigations. The patient was managed conservatively.

A 57-year-old man with rheumatoid arthritis developed severe anemia during treatment with adalimumab plus methotrexate. Cold agglutinin disease was diagnosed because haptoglobin was undetectable, cold agglutinin was positive (1 : 2048), and the direct Coombs test was positive (only to complement). Although the cold agglutinin titer was normalized (1 : 64) after treatment with prednisolone (0.7 ...

By NICoi S COSTEA, VINCENT YAKULLS AND PAUL HELLER H EMOLYTIC ANEMIA of the cold agglutinin ( CA ) variety is believed to represent an autoimmune disorder occasionally complicating the course of lymphoproliferative diseases.’2 Whereas animal models have been proposed for the investigation of various autoimmune phenomena,3 cold reacting erythrocyte autoantibodies have not yet been studied in exp...

I am grateful to Major-General J. Huston, Q.H.S., F.R.C.S., Director of Surgery, for his advice and encouragement and to Captain G. Tate, R.A.M.C., and Mr. A. E. Pridham, for their help. REFERENCES FINNEY, J. M. J., & HANRAHAN, E. M. (1930). Ann. Surg., 92, 620. GOLlGHER, J. C., MOIR, P. J. & WRIGLEY, J. H. (1956). Lancet, 1, 220. McDoNALD, O. G., GILLESPIE, M. G. & LA BREE, R. H. (1953). A.M.A...