The following categorisation of the disorder demonstrates its heterogeneity:
Common hereditary elliptocytosis (in approximate order from least severe to most severe)
With asymptomatic carrier status - individuals have no symptoms of disease and diagnosis is only able to be made on blood film
With mild disease - individuals have no symptoms, with a mild and compensated haemolytic anaemia
With sporadic haemolysis - individuals are at risk of haemolysis in the presence of particular comorbidities, including infections, and vitamin B12 deficiency
With neonatal poikilocytosis - individuals have a symptomatic haemolytic anaemia with poikilocytosis that resolves in the first year of life
With chronic haemolysis -  individual has a moderate to severe symptomatic haemolytic anaemia (this subtype has variable penetrance in some pedigrees)
With homozygosity or compound heterozygosity - depending on the exact mutations involved, individuals may lie anywhere in the spectrum between having a mild haemolytic anaemia and having a life-threatening haemolytic anaemia with symptoms mimicking those of HPP (see below)
With pyropoikilocytosis (HPP) - individuals are typically of African descent and have a life-threateningly severe haemolytic anaemia with micropoikilocytosis (small and misshapen erythrocytes) that is compounded by a marked instability of erythrocytes in even mildly elevated temperatures (pyropoikilocytosis is often found in burns victims and is the term is commonly used in reference to such people)
South-east Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) (also called stomatocytic elliptocytosis) - individuals are of South-East Asian descent (typically Malaysian, Indonesian, Melanesian, New Guinean or Filipino, have a mild haemolytic anaemia, and has increased resistance to malaria
Spherocytic elliptocytosis (also called hereditary haemolytic ovalocytosis) - individuals are of European descent and elliptocytes and spherocytes are simultaneously present in their blood

History
Elliptocytosis was first described in 1904, and was first recognised as a hereditary condition in 1932.
Infections
Bacterial, viral or fungal infections can cause glossitis. Chronic Candida infections of the tongue can cause an atrophic glossitis known as median rhomboid glossitis.Syphilis is now relatively rare, but the tertiary stage can cause diffuse glossitis and atrophy of lingual papillae, termed "syphilitic glossitis", "luetic glossitis" or "atrophic glossitis of tertiary syphilis". It is caused by Treponema pallidum and is a sexually transmitted infection. Other causes
Many conditions can cause glossitis via malnutrition or malabsorption, which creates the nutritional deficiencies described above, although other mechanisms may be involved in some of those conditions listed. Alcoholism
Sprue (celiac disease, or tropical sprue), secondary to nutritional deficiencies
Crohn’s disease
Whipple disease
Glucagonoma syndrome
Cowden disease
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
Carcinoid syndrome
Kwashiorkor amyloidosis
Veganism and other specialized diets, without B12 supplementation. Poor hydration and low saliva in the mouth, which allows bacteria to grow more readily
Mechanical irritation or injury from burns, rough edges of teeth or dental appliances, or other trauma
Tongue piercing Glossitis can be caused by the constant irritation by the ornament and by colonization of Candida albicans in site and on the ornament
Exposure to irritants such as tobacco, alcohol, hot foods, or spices
Allergic reaction to toothpaste, mouthwash, breath fresheners, dyes in confectionery, plastic in dentures or retainers, or certain blood-pressure medications (ACE inhibitors)
Administration of ganglion blockers (e.g., Tubocurarine, Mecamylamine). Oral lichen planus, erythema multiforme, aphthous ulcer, pemphigus vulgaris
Heredity
Albuterol (bronchodilator medicine)A painful tongue may be an indication of an underlying serious medical condition and nearly always merits assessment by a physician or dental surgeon. Diagnosis
Classification
Glossitis could be classified as a group of tongue diseases or gastrointestinal diseases.