A patient with congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia type III presenting with stillbirths

Abstract

A 28-year-old female patient presented with recurrent stillbirths between 28 and 30 weeks of gestation. At least one of the stillborn was hydropic at birth; alpha-thalassaemia and Rh isoimmunisation were ruled out. The patient was found to be suffering from congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia (CDA) type III, a rare form of congenital anaemia inherited as an autosomal dominant character in some families. It is tempting to speculate that at least the hydropic stillborn inherited the same disorder from the mother. CDA type III as a cause of hydrops fetalis has not been reported in the literature. The patient, who was transfusion-dependent, underwent splenectomy. Subsequently she did not need any transfusion for the last 6 months.