Prolonged Survival in Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria

Some patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria survive for many years. Three such patients are reported with survivals of 43, 29, and 27 years. Their histories, and those of 14 other patients who survived for more than 20 years, suggest that prolonged survival is not necessarily related to amelioration of the disease. In some patients with apparent "remission" of the disease, laboratory abnormalities persisted for many years.