Anemia II - Krafts Flashcards
What hemoglobinopathy is the most important?
Sickle cell
What happens to sickle cells in the circulation?
- Hemolysis (fragile)
- Vaso-occlusion (get stuck in tiny blood vessels)
- Aggregate and polymerize on deoxygenation
What is wrong with the hemoglobin in all Hemoglobinopathies?
- Qualitative hemoglobin abnormality
- change in quality
- Structurally abnormal hemoglobin
- often one amino acid away from normal
- usually change in beta-chain
What is the best lab test to diagnose Hemoglobinopathies?
Hemoglobin Electrophoresis
What are the clinical features of Sickle Cell Anemia?
- Eight percent of blacks in US are heterozygous (heterozygosity is called sickle cell trait)
- Severity of disease is variable
- Chronic hemolysis (Hb from 6-10)
- Vaso-occlusive disease (acute crisis caused by infection, hypoxia, etc.)
- Increased infections leading to AUTOSPLENECTOMY (recurrent hemorrhage and fibrosis)
What five morphological features are present with a Sickle Cell Anemia patient in the “Post-splenectomy blood picture”?
- Nucleated RBCs
- Target red cells
- Howell-Jolly bodies (cluster of DNA inside RBC)
- Pappenheimer bodies (RBCs with abnormal granules)
- Slightly increased platelet count (kicked out of spleen)
What is the treament for Sicke Cell Anemia?
- Prevent triggers (infections, fever, dehydration)
- keep patient well oxygenated
- Vaccinate against encapsulated bugs (especially after they lose their spleen)
- Blood transfusions in severe cases
- Bone marrow transplantation is last resort
What is wrong with the hemoglobin in Thalassemia?
- Quantitative defect in hemoglobin
- alpha-thal: deletion of alpha chain genes
- 4 genes = 4 chances to mess it up
- results in decreased amount of alpha chains
- beta-thal: defective beta chain genes
- 2 genes = only 2 chances to ruin it
- results in decreased amount of beta chains
- alpha-thal: deletion of alpha chain genes
How do the genes in Beta-thalassemia relate to the severity of the defect?
- Beta gene: normal gene
- Beta+ gene: produces some Beta chains
- Beta0 gene: produces no Beta chains
- Beta-thalassemia minor (asymptomatic)
- Beta0/Beta OR Beta+/Beta
- Beta-thalassemia intermedia (less severe)
- Beta0/Beta OR Beta+/Beta+
- Beta-thalasemia major (severe)
- Beta0/Beta0 OR Beta0/Beta+
How do the genes in Alpha-Thalassemia compare to the severity of the disease?
- Problem: alpha-chain genes are absent
- Gene combinations:
- -α/αα = silent (still have 3)
- –/αα OR -α/-α = α-thal trait (Sx variable)
- –/-α = HbH disease (pretty severe)
- –/– = Hydrops fetalis (incompatable with life)
What causes the anemia in thalassemia?
- α-thalassemia
- not enough α-chains
- see excess unpaired beta, gamma, or delta chains
- Beta-thalassemia
- not enough beta-chains
- excess unpaired α-chains
What are the morphologic features of blood in thalassemia?
- Hypochromic, microcytic anemia
- Often has minimal decreased anisocytosis (size) and poikilocytosis (shape)
- Target cells
- Basophilic stippling (blue dots in red cells)
How can you tell the difference morphologically in Thalassemia and Iron Deficiency Anemia?
- IDA
- fair amount of anisocytosis (size variety → increased RDW)
- decreased RBC
- Thalassemia
- minimal amount of anisocytosis (normal/decreased RDW)
- increased RBC
What ethnic groups is alpha thalassemia most prevalent in?
Asians, blacks
What ethnic groups is beta thalassemia most prevalent in?
Mediterraneans, Blacks, Asians
When does G6PD appear?
- after exposure to certain oxidizing agents, like fava beans, or certain medications
- Lack of or decreased G6PD → peroxides → cell lysis
Why is G6PD an important enzyme in the body?
- It catalyzes the initial step in the pentose phosphate pathway of glycolysis.
- Need G6PD to reduce NADP to NADPH, which in turn keeps glutathione in the reduced state
- reduced glutathione detoxifies hydrogen peroxide and other organic peroxides