Blood, 1956, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 250-259.
© 1956 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Chronic Refractory Anemia with Sideroblastic Bone Marrow:
A Study of Four Cases
SVEN ERIK BJÖRKMAN 1
1 Department of Medicine, University of Lund, Malmö General Hospital, Malmö,
Sweden.
Four cases of severe refractory anemia with an enormous increase of demonstrable free iron in the normoblasts are reported. Three cases were of unknown
etiology and of benign course but in the fourth the anemia was probably related
to rheumatoid arthritis or to the onset of myeloblastic leukemia. The significance
of the sideroblastic bone marrow in these cases is discussed and the opinion
expressed in the literature—that it indicates a defect in hemoglobin synthesis
is subscribed to. Thus, it is believed that the anemia in these cases is due to degenerative changes in the bone marrow which also have some morphologic
manifestations. The disturbance of marrow activity is probably best reflected
in the reticulocyte counts.
Submitted on July 13, 1955
Accepted on August 27, 1955
