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Abstract Background Erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents effectively improve the hemoglobin levels in a fraction of anemic patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Higher doses (HD) of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) have been proposed to overcome suboptimal response rates observed in MDS patients treated with lower “standard doses” (SD) of rhEPO. However, a direct comparison between the different doses of rhEPO is lacking. Methods A cohort of 104 MDS patients treated with HD was retrospectively compared to 208 patients treated with SD in a propensity score‐matched analysis to evaluate hematological improvement‐erythroid (HI‐E) rate induced by the different doses of rhEPO. The impact of rhEPO doses on survival and progression to leukemia was also investigated. Results Overall HI‐E rate was 52.6%. No difference was observed between different rhEPO doses (P = .28) in matched cohorts; in a subgroup analysis, transfusion‐dependent patients and patients with higher IPSS‐R score obtained a higher HI‐E rate with HD, although without significant impact on overall survival (OS). Achievement of HI‐E resulted in superior OS. At univariate analysis, a higher HI‐E rate was observed in transfusion‐independent patients (P

The unexpected onset of an angioedema in a patient observed in the emergency department after a viper bite, gave the opportunity to consider some different etiopathogenetic hypothesis and to discuss the most correct diagnostic procedure. The patient was a 60-year-old man who was treated with sartans for hypertension and reported a recent diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance. Based on the patient history and on the clinical aspects of the angioedema, the authors consider the possibility of an acquired non-allergic angioedema and its probable close relationship with a lymphoproliferative disorder.