anemia, hemolytic

The hemolytic anemias are those caused by destruction of red cells in the bloodstream by a disease process.

They include

hemolytic disease of the newborn, usually caused by blood group incompatibility between mother and baby (ABO incompatibility, Rh factor incompatibility)
hemolytic anemias caused by abnormal red cell membranes, chiefly hereditary spherocytosis and hereditary elliptocytosis, and a variety of other, rarer conditions
hemolytic anemias caused by abnormal hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying molecule that fills the red cell); for example sickle cell anemia and thallassemia

Complications of hemolytic anemias include all the ill effects of sometimes profound anemia as well as (in the newborn) possible problems caused by jaundice.

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