The differential diagnosis and therapy of hemolytic anemias after the transplantation of solid organs

: The clinical sign "anemia" is found in a majority of patients after solid organ transplantation. A variety of etiological factors cause reduced red blood counts--in different situations hemolysis is the culprit. Thrombotic microangiopathy (hemolytic uremic syndrome, transplant rejection or induced by immunosuppressive therapy), infections (bacterial, viral, fungal), and autoalloimmune reactions (differences in blood-group or Rhesus-antigens, drug induced RBC lysis) are most important pathologies to be considered in differential diagnostic steps. Methods applied in diagnostics, underlying pathologies and therapeutic consequences are described based on the clinical history of three transplant patients from a single university department. Therefore, hemolysis as a possible and important situation following organ transplantation should be considered, immediately traced back to the underlying disorder and effectively treated.