A high rate of CLL phenotype lymphocytes in autoimmune hemolytic anemia and immune thrombocytopenic purpura

1 Department of Clinical Haematology, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen 2 Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Correspondence: M.A. Vickers, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK. E-mail: m.a.vickers{at}abdn.ac.uk Minor CLL-like clones are found in ~3% of healthy individuals. AIHA and ITP are common in CLL and may be causally linked. We investigated the presence of CLL phenotype lymphocytes in 11 cases of primary AIHA, 18 of ITP and 2 of Evans’ Syndrome, compared with 26 age-matched healthy controls. A population of ‘CLL phenotype’ was seen in 6/31 patients compared to 1/26 healthy controls ( 2 =3.9; p =0.05). Such clones may be important in the pathogenesis of autoimmune blood disorders. Key words: autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenic purpura, clonal B-cells, ‘CLL-phenotype’ lymphocytes.