Pure red cell anemia with erythropoietic maturation arrest and spontaneous recovery.

We report the case of a 21-year-old male who presented with severe anemia and hypercellular bone marrow, without known cause. The dominant feature of the bone marrow was that of a maturation arrest in the erythroid series, with absolute reticulocytopenia in the peripheral blood. Immunosuppressive therapy was withheld, but transfusions were given to maintain his hemoglobin prior to full recovery. The patient had features of both pure red cell anemia and of transient erythroblastopenia of childhood.