Anemia 1

Question 1

What is anemia?

Answer 1

Reduced oxygen carrying capacity from insufficient hemoglobin and red blood cell mass within the vasculature

Question 2

What are the 3 main types of anemia?

Answer 2

Loss
Destruction
Hypoplasia

Question 3

What are some examples of each type of anemia?

Answer 3

Loss - trauma, parasite, thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy, DIC

Destruction - Infectious, Immune mediated, drug induced, mechanical

Hypoplasia - anemia of chronic disease, renal failure, aplastic anemia, panyctopenia, drugs, immune, neoplasia, idiopathic

Question 4

When should you suspect anemia based on history?

Answer 4

Weakness, lethargy, collapse
Pallor/pale gums
Jaundice/icterus/yellow gums/sclera/skin
Trauma
melena or hematochezia
Obvious blood loss
breathing changes
distended abdomen

Question 5

When should you suspect anemia based on PE?

Answer 5

Pale to pink white MM
Tachycardia
Heart murmur
Bounding or weak pulse
dullness, weakness, collapse
icterus
bruising, petechia
pleural or abdominal effusion
Obvious bleeding

Question 6

What are clinical signs of anemia?

Answer 6

Depend on severity and chronicity
-body adapts if given time
-rapid drops = more critical
-2 animals can have same degree of anemia but look completely different

Question 7

How do we confirm that the animal has anemia?

Answer 7

Packed cell volume (PCV)
Total Solids (TS)
CBC
-Hematocrit (percentage of RBCs)
-Blood Smear
-Reticulocyte count

Question 8

What do the following diagnostics look like for each of the following types of Anemia:
Blood Loss
-PCV
-TS
-CBC

Answer 8

-PCV - Lower
-TS - Decrease
-CBC - Normal to Low, all decreased in even portion, regenerative

Question 9

What do the following diagnostics look like for each of the following types of Anemia:
Destruction
-PCV
-TS
-CBC

Answer 9

-PCV - Normal/Low (still there just broken) - Hemoysis red or yellow
-TS - Normal/Incerased - inflammatory process (IMHA) - increase globulins
-CBC - Schistocyte, red or yellow plasma, macrocytic hypochromic, polychromasia, anisocytosis, inflammatory leukogram, Heinz body, spherocyte, ghost

Question 10

What do the following diagnostics look like for each of the following types of Anemia:
Lack of Production
-PCV
-TS
-CBC

Answer 10

-PCV - Very low, nonregenerative
-TS - Normal, renal injury and PLE
-CBC - Pancytopenia, nonregenerative, normocytic normochromic, no reticulocyte response

Question 11

What can cause acute blood loss anemia? Chronic?

Answer 11

Acute: Trauma, coagulopathy, cancer

Chronic: Parasite, Ulcer and Cancer

Question 12

What causes hemolytic anemia?

Answer 12

Immune mediated
Infectious, oxidative, damage and toxins, microangiopathies, inherited RBC abnormalities
(intra or extravascular)

Question 13

What causes hypoplastic anemia?

Answer 13

Refractory anemia (chronic disease), Renal failure, iron deficiency

Bone Marrow Disorders - aplastic anemia, pancytopenia, drug induced, cancer, immune mediated, idiopathic, infectious

Question 14

What kind of anemia does zinc toxicity cause?

Answer 14

Hemolytic - Oxidative damage to RBC’s