A 24-year-old man is suspected of having mycoplasma pneumonia based on his symptoms of dry cough and chest x-ray findings. He is also anemic with hemoglobin of 10.5 g/dL, and hemolytic anemia from cold agglutinins is suspected. Which of the following is consistent with hemolytic anemia?
(A) increased haptoglobin level
(B) increased bilirubin in the urine
© increased reticulocyte count
(D) increased myoglobin in the blood
(E) increased hemopexin in the blood
solution
In hemolytic anemia the haptoglobin is decreased, reticulocyte count increased, and unconjugated bilirubin increased. There is no bilirubin in the urine because unconjugated bilirubin is not cleared by the kidney as it is
tightly bound to plasma proteins.