Hemolytic anemia developed in Kimura's disease: a case report

Kimura's disease (KD) is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder that involves the lymph nodes, skin, kidneys and ears, but its influence on the hematologic system remains unknown. We discovered a rare case of KD that developed hemolytic anemia. Erythrocytes hyperplasia with eosinophilia were observed in the bone marrow smears, while eosinophilic abscesses and endothelial proliferation could be found in the lymph node, which were strong proof for hemolytic anemia with KD. Flow cytometry analysis revealed diminished expression of CD55 and CD59 on the blood cell surfaces, which might explain the reason of hemolytic anemia. The symptoms of the patient could not be relieved by prednisolone but responded well to the treatment with cyclophosphamide. The abnormal clone of blood cells disappeared after cyclophosohamide. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of hemolytic anemia developed in a patient with KD and we discovered the possible pathogenesis of the disease.