Anemia&Chemo Drugs Flashcards
Normal Hb levels of a male and female?
Male: 13.5-17.5 g/dL
Female: 12 - 16 g/dL
How is anemia defined?
Hgb < 12 g/dL
Mild anemia =
Moderate anemia =
Severe anemia =
Mild = hgb 10-12
Mod = hgb 8-12
Severe = hgb < 8
Which is a better test? Hemoglobin or hematocrit? Why?
Hemoglobin because hematocrit is sensitive to fluid shifts
Macrocytic (megaloblastic) anemia is associated with what types of deficiency?
Folic acid and B12 deficiency
Iron deficiency is d/t what 5 possible etiologies?
- Inadequate iron intake
- Inadequate iron absorption
- Increased iron demand
- Blood loss
- Chronic disease
Presentation of Anemia: Symptoms of acute onset v. chronic onset
Acute = tachycardia, light-headedness, breathlessness
Chronic = Fatigue, HA, vertigo, faintness, cold sensitivity, pallor, loss of skin tone
These symptoms can overlap
Lab values needed to diagnose anemia
CBC (WBC, Hgb, HCT, Platelets) RBC Indicies (MCV, MCHC, MCH) Reticulocyte count Peripheral blood smear Stool guiac
Normal Iron Panel levels:
- -Serum Iron
- -Serum ferritin
- -Transferrin
- -Total iron binding capacity
- -Transferrin saturation (Serum iron/TIBC)
Serum Iron = 50-160 mcg/dL
Serum ferritin = Males 30-300, Females 15-200
Transferrin = 200-360 mg/dL
TIBC = 250-400 mcg/dL
Transferrin sat = Males 20-50%, Females 15-50%
Normal folic acid levels
1.8 - 16 ng/mL
Normal vitamin B12 levels
100-900 pg/mL
Normal Erythropoietin levels
0 - 19 mu/mL
Homocysteine levels
3.3 - 10.4 umol/mL
Methylmalonic acid levels
0.07 - 0.27 umol/mL
Goals of Iron Deficient Anemia (4)
- ) Alleviate symptoms
- ) Correct iron deficiency
- ) Increase Hgb
- ) Prevent recurrence
Iron deficient lab values:
- MCV
- MCH, MCHC
- Serum ferritin
- Transferrin
- TIBC
- Transferrin saturation
Low MCV, MCH, MCHC
Low serum ferritin
High transferrin
High TIBC
Low transferrin saturation
Tx options for Iron Deficiency: Oral Iron Supplements dosage
*How much iron in mg/day is the goal?
Ferrous Sulfate
–> 300mg = 60mg elemental
Ferrous Gluconate
–> 300mg = 37mg elemental
Ferrous Fumarate
–> 100mg = 33mg elemental
Polysaccharide iron complex
–> 150mg = 100% elemental iron
What should you counsel a pt with iron deficiency on how to change their diet?
Eat meat, fish, poultry
Plant sources are more difficult for body to extract iron
How many tablets a day should one take ferrous sulfate?
5
Why? Because a 300mg tablet has 60mg elemental iron and you want a pt to consume 200mg of elemental iron/day.
So…a tablet has 20% elemental iron
When would parenteral iron be used (3 instances)
- Iron malabsorption
- Intolerant of oral therapy
- Chronic non-compliance
What is an important consideration when giving iron dextran?
Give a test dose of 25mg to assess for anaphylaxis (wait 30-60 min to assess)
Besides iron dextran, what are the other 3 parenteral iron products that are much less likely to cause anaphylaxis?
- Sodium ferric gluconate (Ferriecit)
- Iron sucrose (Venofer)
- Ferumoxytol (Feraheme)
Side effects of iron therapy
- Nausea
- Abdominal discomfort
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Black stools
How should you be monitoring iron deficiency anemia
- Weekly Hgb
- CBC
- Iron Panel
With proper iron tx you should expect to see what in the reticulocyte count?
Increase in ret count within 7 days (usually 4-5) d/t increased RBC synthesis
When treating iron how much of an increase should you expect to see weekly of Hgb
1-2 g/dL/week Hgb increase
Symptoms of Vitamin B12 Deficiency
- Typical symptoms of anemia
- Neuropsychiatric abnormalities
- Paresthesias
- Ataxia
- Memory Loss
What do the following look like in Vitamin B12 Deficiency?
- MCV
- Hgb
- Serum B12
- Schilling test
- Homocysteine
- Methylmalonic Acid
MCV = macrocytosis Hgb = low Serum B12 = low Schilling Test = assess level of intrinsic factor Homocysteine = increased Methylmalonic Acid = increased
Treatment goals of B12 Deficiency
- Resolve symptoms
- Inc. Hgb
- Prevent recurrence