Cold Agglutinin Disease - Etiology

Etiology

There are two forms of cold agglutinin disease: 1-primary and 2-secondary.

• The primary form is by definition idiopathic, a disease for which no cause is known.

• Secondary cold agglutinin disease is a result of an underlying condition.
  • In adults, this is typically due to a lymphoproliferative disease such as lymphoma and chronic lymphoid leukemia, or infection.
  • In children, cold agglutinin disease is often secondary to an infection, such as Mycoplasma pneumonia, mononucleosis, and HIV.