Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type III associated with congenital atrioseptal defect has led to severe cardiac problems in a 32-year-old patient

We report the case of a 32-year-old woman who was admitted at hospital because of ortho-dyspnea, arrhythmia, and paleness. Clinical examination showed continuous arrhythmia, systolic heart murmur, enlargement of spleen and liver, and pathologic hematological parameters, thus indicating an intravasal hemolysis (elevated HBDH, bilirubin, and reticulocytes; reduced hemoglobin and haptoglobin levels), and bone-marrow-smears showed a typical cytomorphology of CDA III. The patient's diagnosis was heart failure caused by mitral valve insufficiency due to congenital atrioseptal defect associated with congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type III (CDA III). Am. J. Hematol 64:314–316, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.