Evaluation of a hereditary spherocytosis screening algorithm by automated blood count using reticulocytes and erythrocytic parameters on the Sysmex XN-series.

Sottiaux, Jean-Yves [UCL] Favresse, Julien [UCL] Chevalier, Charles Chatelain, Bernard [UCL] Jacqmin, Hugues [UCL] Mullier, François [UCL]

(eng) Dear Editors, Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) is the most common cause of haemolytic anaemia due to a red cell membrane defect, with a prevalence of approximately 1 in 2000 in northern Europe.1 This disease results in genetic alterations in genes that encode proteins involved in vertical association that link the membrane cytoskeleton to the lipid bilayer (spectrin, ankyrin, band 3, band 4.2). These alterations lead to a loss of deformability, reduced osmotic resistance, skeleton-free lipid microvesicles production and reduced membrane surface area. 2 It is known that a reduced membrane surface area can be seen in some forms of autoimmune haemolytic anaemia. However, this phenomenon is already present in HS at the circulating reticulocyte stage. [...]