Summary. A review of data on haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) collected in Newcastle upon Tyne over 25 years revealed 194 pregnancies in which anti‐Kell was the only antibody detected. Sixteen affected babies were born. None was hydropic, three had very severe disease but all survived. There were also three stillbirths, none of which had post‐mortem appearances of HDN. The highest recorded anti‐Kell titres in individual patients ranged from 1/1 to 1/2048 and bore no relation to the severity of the disease. Of the eight pregnancies in which amniotic fluid examination predicted a high risk of stillbirth, half resulted in unaffected babies. We suggest that haemolytic disease caused by anti‐Kell is less severe than suggested by some workers. The use of guidelines developed from the study of Rhesus disease to determine the need for intervention in women with anti‐Kell may be inappropriate.

A case of severe Sweet's syndrome associated with myelodysplasia is reported. The skin lesions responded to high doses of systemic steroids, but recurred rapidly on dose reduction. Treatment with a low dose of cyclosporin resulted in sustained clearance of the skin lesions, and was associated with a stable haemoglobin level, without the need for further blood transfusions.

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Intermediate dose intravenous melphalan at a dose of 15 mg/m² × 4 given at 21-day intervals has been evaluated in 20 consecutive patients. The aims were to assess the time to obtain maximal response, duration of response and response to reintroduction of intravenous melphalan on relapse. Median time to maximal response was 17 weeks. Four patients achieved a complete response with complete disappearance of parapro-tein. On relapse, reintroduction of intravenous melphalan was unsuccessful in causing a reduction of parapro-tein, suggesting that resistance to this dose of melphalan occurs early even in responding patients