Autoimmune hemolytic anemia: a rare complication of ulcerative colitis

Anaemia is a common problem in patients with ulcerative colitis, and its etiology is usually multifactorial. It can be produced by chronic blood loss, nutritional deficiencies, drugs such as salazopyrine, or it can be related to those chronic disease. However, ulcerative colitis is known to be associated with several immune disorders, as autoimmune haemolytic anaemia. Nevertheless, this rare complication can be found in 0.2 to 0.7% of patients affected by ulcerative colitis, and although 1.82% of patients with ulcerative colitis have a positive direct Coombs test without evidence of hemolysis. We report one new case of ulcerative colitis associated with autoimmune anaemia haemolytic, and a review the literature.