Aplastic

Question 1

What is aplastic anemia?

Answer 1

Aplastic anemia is a disorder in which multipotent myeloid stem cells are suppressed leading to bone marrow failure and pancytopenia.

Question 2

How does it present?

Answer 2

Pancytopenia so,
Anemia symptoms
Granulocytopenia as recurrent infections
Thrombocytopenia as mucosal bleeds and petechial hemorrhages

Past history

Question 3

What are the causes of aplastic anemia?

Answer 3

1. Idiopathic
2. Myelotoxic agents e.g antineoplastic drugs, sulfonamides and benzene
3. Viral hepatitis

Question 4

What are the lab findings?

Answer 4

1) Pancytopenia

2) hypocellularity of bone marrow with 90% intertrabecular space occupied by fat.
… lymphocytes and plasma cells mostly

3) normocytic normochromic

** Reticulocytopenia **

Question 5

What is the treatment?

Answer 5

1) Remove causative agent
2) bone marrow transplant
3) if not possible, transfusions are done