Micro-angiopathic haemolytic anaemia and an unusual lactate dehydrogenase iso-enzyme pattern in metastatic adenocarcinoma. A case report.

Micro-angiopathic haemolytic anaemia is an unusual but well-recognized complication of metastatic adenocarcinoma. A young black man presented with red cell fragmentation, compensated disseminated intravascular coagulation and leuco-erythroblastosis. Metastatic adenocarcinoma of the stomach was suspected but only demonstrated at autopsy. An unusual finding was the elevation of the slow-moving lactate dehydrogenase iso-enzyme (LDH5) level in the plasma which was shown to be produced by metastatic tumour cells recovered from the bone marrow.