Recent Developments in Hematology and Transfusion Medicine.

Transfusion of allogeneic blood products carry a small but not negligible risk for the transmission of infections and may have immunosuppressive or immunogenic effects. The discovery, licensing, and clinical use of hematopoietic cytokines such as erythropoietin or thrombopoietin may reduce the requirements for allogeneic blood transfusions. However, the effectiveness has so far only been demonstrated in limited clinical situations.

A case of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in an adult treated with vincristine.

The case of a woman with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura refractory to prolonged treatment with plasma exchange and steroid treatment is described. The addition of vincristine yielded a complete response, which has been maintained for 9 months up to the time of this report.