Anaemia Flashcards
What is the technical definition of anaemia?
- Aneamia is strictly defined as a decrease in red blood cell (RBC) mass
- It can also be defined as a lowered ability of the blood to carry oxygen
What are the 3 main causes of anaemia?
- Blood loss
- Increased destruction of RBCs (hemolysis),
- Decreased production of RBCs
What is haematocrit?
- The hematocrit is the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood.
- Normally 45% for men and 40% for women.
What does a low or high haematocrit implicate?
- Low → Anaemia
* High → Polycythaemia
What is MCV?
- Mean corpuscular (cell) volume (MCV) is the average volume of red cells
- Split into 3 catagories → Microcytic, Normocytic and Macrocytic
What are the 3 types of MCV?
- Macrocytic
- Normocytic
- Microcytic
What are the causes of Macrocytic anaemia?
- B12/folate deficiency
- Alcoholic liver disease
- Thyroid disease
- Myelodysplasia
- Sideroblastic anaemia
- Antifolate drugs → Methotrexate
What are the causes of Normocytic anaemia?
- Pregnancy
- Haemorrhage
- Haemoglobinopathies
- Haemolysis
- anaemia of chronic disease
- Renal failure
- Malignancy
- Bone marrow failure
What are the causes of Microcytic anaemia?
The most common cause of microcytic anaemia is Iron deficiency.
- IRON DEFICIENCY → Pregnancy,GI malignancy, Menorrhagia
- Haemoglobinopathies → Thassalaemia, sickle cell anaemia
What are some of the common presenting symptoms for people with anaemia?
- Pallor
- Exertional dyspnoea
- Tachycardia
- Palpitations
- Angina
- Night cramps
- Cardiac bruit
What causes macrocytic anaemia?
• macrocytosis occurs when there are problems with the synthesis of the blood cells
What is the commonest cause of Macrocytic anaemia?
Vitamin B12/folate deficiency
What is pernicious Anaemia?
- Pernicious anemia is a condition in which the body can’t make enough healthy red blood cells because it doesn’t have enough vitamin B12.
- This vitamin B12 deficiency is due to a lack of intrinsic factor.
What is the most common cause of normocytic anaemia?
Long term chronic disease → kidney disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and thyroiditis
What would a high Hb (haemoglobin) imply?
Polycythaemia
