Sustained Regression of Hydroxycarbamide Induced Actinic Keratoses after Switching to Anagrelide.

Hydroxycarbamide (HC) is the first-line treatment for certain myeloproliferative neoplasms, such as polycythemia vera and essential thrombocytosis (ET). In a subset of these patients long-term treatment with HC can result in the development of confluent actinic keratoses (AK) followed by invasive keratinocytic carcinomas ("squamous dysplasia"), preferentially on sun-exposed skin. Discontinuation or dose reduction of HC may result in partial improvement.

Durable response to lenalidomide in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome associated with isolated 5q deletion and V617F mutation despite discontinuation of treatment.

Loss of a section of the long arm of chromosome 5, as a sole cytogenetic abnormality, characterizes a rare type of myelodysplastic syndrome [del(5q) MDS] and the co-existence of the V617F mutation occurs in a small subset of these cases. Patients with isolated del(5q) MDS have a relatively favorable prognosis, with transformation to acute myeloid leukemia occurring in <10%, and their disease responds well to lenalidomide. However the optimal therapeutic approach for patients with del(5q) MDS in coexistence with the V617F mutation, which is common to myeloproliferative neoplasms, remains to be elucidated.

Brucellosis-induced autoimmune hemolytic anemia treated with rituximab.

Objective: To present a case of brucellosis-induced severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) that was refractory to traditional corticosteroid treatment and eventually treated with rituximab apart from antibiotic therapy and to discuss the potential role of rituximab in similar cases of AIHA triggered by an underlying reversible cause.

Case Summary: A 79-year-old woman was diagnosed with severe AIHA (reticulocyte count 21.5%, hemoglobin 6 g/dL).