Oscar F Borja-Montes, Alejandro Toro-Pedroza, Darrell D Horton, Leslie A Andritsos, Ala Ebaid
{"title":"Mycophenolate Mofetil for the Treatment of Warm Autoimmune Haemolytic Anaemia Post-Rituximab Therapy: A Case Series.","authors":"Oscar F Borja-Montes, Alejandro Toro-Pedroza, Darrell D Horton, Leslie A Andritsos, Ala Ebaid","doi":"10.12890/2024_004780","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (wAIHA) is an acquired haemolytic disorder most commonly treated with a combination of corticosteroids, rituximab and/or splenectomy. Third-line therapies for refractory cases include immunosuppressive agents. Mycophenolate mofetil is frequently used in these scenarios, although its use is supported by small studies and anecdotal evidence rather than large-scale data.</p><p><strong>Case description: </strong>We describe three cases of refractory warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia successfully treated with mycophenolate mofetil. Case 1: A persistent case of autoimmune haemolytic anaemia in a 56-year-old was ultimately managed with mycophenolate mofetil, leading to successful steroid tapering and stable haemoglobin levels without relapse. Case 2: A woman with a complex oncological history, including lymphoma and breast cancer, achieved remission with mycophenolate therapy, maintaining stability post-steroid treatment. Case 3: Mycophenolate proved effective for a 63-year-old with cirrhosis after recurrent autoimmune anaemia and deep vein thrombosis, enabling cessation of steroids and maintaining remission.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Management of this condition can be challenging and balancing the available treatments is crucial to reduce potential complications from long-term therapies that appear to be ineffective. Our case series demonstrates anecdotal experience on successful use of mycophenolate mofetil for complex refractory cases of wAIHA.</p><p><strong>Learning points: </strong>Warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia can be a challenging condition to manage. Refractory cases that are steroid-dependent can benefit from trialling steroid-sparing agents such as mycophenolate.Anti-CD20 agents such as rituximab can be very effective in refractory cases, however there is a small percentage of patients that might not be responsive to this monoclonal antibody.Autoimmune haemolytic anaemias can be frequently complicated by thrombotic events, and part of the backbone treatment is establishing good thromboprophylaxis.</p>","PeriodicalId":11908,"journal":{"name":"European journal of case reports in internal medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11379116/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European journal of case reports in internal medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.12890/2024_004780","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (wAIHA) is an acquired haemolytic disorder most commonly treated with a combination of corticosteroids, rituximab and/or splenectomy. Third-line therapies for refractory cases include immunosuppressive agents. Mycophenolate mofetil is frequently used in these scenarios, although its use is supported by small studies and anecdotal evidence rather than large-scale data.
Case description: We describe three cases of refractory warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia successfully treated with mycophenolate mofetil. Case 1: A persistent case of autoimmune haemolytic anaemia in a 56-year-old was ultimately managed with mycophenolate mofetil, leading to successful steroid tapering and stable haemoglobin levels without relapse. Case 2: A woman with a complex oncological history, including lymphoma and breast cancer, achieved remission with mycophenolate therapy, maintaining stability post-steroid treatment. Case 3: Mycophenolate proved effective for a 63-year-old with cirrhosis after recurrent autoimmune anaemia and deep vein thrombosis, enabling cessation of steroids and maintaining remission.
Conclusion: Management of this condition can be challenging and balancing the available treatments is crucial to reduce potential complications from long-term therapies that appear to be ineffective. Our case series demonstrates anecdotal experience on successful use of mycophenolate mofetil for complex refractory cases of wAIHA.
Learning points: Warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia can be a challenging condition to manage. Refractory cases that are steroid-dependent can benefit from trialling steroid-sparing agents such as mycophenolate.Anti-CD20 agents such as rituximab can be very effective in refractory cases, however there is a small percentage of patients that might not be responsive to this monoclonal antibody.Autoimmune haemolytic anaemias can be frequently complicated by thrombotic events, and part of the backbone treatment is establishing good thromboprophylaxis.
期刊介绍:
The European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine is an official journal of the European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM), representing 35 national societies from 33 European countries. The Journal''s mission is to promote the best medical practice and innovation in the field of acute and general medicine. It also provides a forum for internal medicine doctors where they can share new approaches with the aim of improving diagnostic and clinical skills in this field. EJCRIM welcomes high-quality case reports describing unusual or complex cases that an internist may encounter in everyday practice. The cases should either demonstrate the appropriateness of a diagnostic/therapeutic approach, describe a new procedure or maneuver, or show unusual manifestations of a disease or unexpected reactions. The Journal only accepts and publishes those case reports whose learning points provide new insight and/or contribute to advancing medical knowledge both in terms of diagnostics and therapeutic approaches. Case reports of medical errors, therefore, are also welcome as long as they provide innovative measures on how to prevent them in the current practice (Instructive Errors). The Journal may also consider brief and reasoned reports on issues relevant to the practice of Internal Medicine, as well as Abstracts submitted to the scientific meetings of acknowledged medical societies.