Too Many Clots for Comfort

Mohanty and Castro examine the case of a 41-year-old woman, who was presented to an outside medical facility with 4 days of progressive dry cough, fever of 101°F, fatigue, myalgias, and mild exertional dyspnea. She was admitted for treatment of pneumonia. The patient's increased level of completely CD59-deficient (type III) erythrocytes was diagnostic for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a condition resulting from an acquired genetic mutation in the PIG-A gene. The patient completed antibiotic therapy for the pneumonia and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis while in the hospital. Seen quarterly over the last 1.5 years, she hasn't experienced any thrombotic events.