To the Editor:—
West and Zimmerman reported a case of hemolytic anemia due to nitrofurantoin (Furadantin) in The Journal, Oct. 13, 1956, page 637. The similarity between their patient's clinical course and the course of patients developing a hemolytic anemia when given primaquine is striking. It also seems significant that, like most primaquine-sensitive individuals, their patient was a Negro. Primaquine sensitivity is due to an intrinsic abnormality of red blood cells which also renders them unusually susceptible to the hemolytic effect of several other compounds, including sulfanilamide, acetanilid, and thiazolsulfone (Promizole) (J. Lab. & Clin. Med.43:303, 1954; ibid. 45:30, 1955). I have attempted, unsuccessfully, to obtain a sample of blood of the patient reported by West and Zimmerman in order to carry out the in vitro tests for this type of red blood cell abnormality. Recently, however, Kimbro and co-workers (Fed. Proc.16:312, 1957) demonstrated that