Pernicious Anemia and Aplastic Anemia (Exam 2)

Question 1

What is pernicious anemia?

Answer 1

macrocytic anemia due to abnormal secretion of IF by parietal cells = cannot absorb B12

Question 2

What are the 3 physical findings (not values) for pernicious anemia?

Answer 2

glossitis (tongue inflammation) | slight jaundice | carcinoma (severe cases 10%)

Question 3

What is a finding that can indicate pernicious anemia?

Answer 3

low haptoglobin level | haptoglobin is used up due to the free Hb released from the lysed macrocytic RBCs (large RBCs lyse easily)

Question 4

What are the 4 defining characteristics of pernicious anemia?

Answer 4

slow onset | ~60y/o | European descent | produce Abs against IF factor in parietal cells

Question 5

What is the Schilling test used to determine pernicious anemia?

Answer 5

administering radioactive B12 to monitor intake

Question 6

What is the hypothesized pathogenesis of pernicious anemia?

Answer 6

formation of auto-anti-parietal-cell Abs and auto-IF Abs = results in destruction of parietal cells and IF | genetically inherited

Question 7

What is aplastic anemia?

Answer 7

(rare) no RBC (or other blood cells) being produced in BM | BM and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are damaged

Question 8

What is the defining characteristic of aplastic anemia?

Answer 8

pancytopenia

Question 9

What is pancytopenia?

Answer 9

every blood cell is reduced from the body

Question 10

What is the hypothesized cause of aplastic anemia?

Answer 10

abnormality with the hematopoietic stem cells

Question 11

When does aplastic anemia usually manifest?

Answer 11

few months after birth

Question 12

What are the 2 primary causes of aplastic anemia?

Answer 12

congenital | idiopathically acquired

Question 13

What are the 4 secondary cases of aplastic anemia?

Answer 13

ionizing radiation | chemicals | drugs | infections (ie: viral hepatitis)

Question 14

What are the 2 clinical presentations of aplastic anemia?

Answer 14

prone to infections | prone to bleeding

Question 15

What are 2 methods of treatment for aplastic anemia?

Answer 15

BM transplant (congenital cause) | supportive = remove causative agent (if known)

Question 16

What is the prognosis of aplastic anemia?

Answer 16

poor

Question 17

What is a Dry Tap?

Answer 17

when you to take a BM biopsy and reveals no cells present in BM (“dry”)

Question 18

What is amniocentesis?

Answer 18

take cells from fetus during pregnancy to type it in efforts to determine probability of diseases

Question 19

If the patient comes in signs of bleeding problem, anemia, and infection problem, how can you tell if it is not due to some type of cancer or aplastic anemia?

Answer 19

use Dry Tap | if it was malignant = will see cells in Bm biopsy | if young patient = congenital

Question 20

What will happen if an aplastic anemia patient is on an iron supplement regimen?

Answer 20

will likely die from iron overdose