Intravascular Hemolysis, Thrombocytopenia, Leukopenia, and Circulating Immune Complexes after Jejunal-Ileal Bypass Surgery

Abstract

Two years after jejunal-ileal bypass surgery for obesity, a 25-yr-old man developed intravascular hemolysis, thrombocytopenia and neutropenia. The patient''s erythrocytes were coated with complement[c] components (C4/C3) and his serum induced C-dependent immune lysis of 51Cr--labeled platelets. Serum [125I]-Clq binding activity (a measure of the presence of immune complexes) was increased, and serum C4 and C3 hemolytic titers were depressed. Immune complex-mediated C activation apparently accounted for the blood cell destruction in this patient.