Aplastic Anemia - Overview

Who?
• M = F
• 3 peaks:	1) Childhood	2) 15-25 years	3) >60 years

What?
• Aplastic anemia = Hypocellular bone marrow + pancytopenia

Mechanisms:
• Direct Damage to Marrow (Toxic injury to BM)
• Constitutional Syndromes (specific loss-of-function germline mutations)
• Immune Aplastic Anemia

Clinical Presentation:
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Lightheadedness
• Dizziness
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Pale skin color
• Difficulty breathing
• Neutropenia - recurrent infections/fevers
• Thrombocytopenia - ecchymoses, mucosal bleeding, and petechiae

Causes:
• Constitutional Syndromes:
  - Genetic lesions that diminish the capacity for hematopoietic stem cells to repair DNA, as in Fanconi anemia, GATA2 deficiency, CTLA4 deficiency, Dyskeratosis congenita
• Drugs:
  - Cytotoxic drugs/Chemotherapy
  - Antithyroid medications (methimazole and propylthiouracil)
  - β-lactam antibiotics
  - Sulfonamides
  - NSAIDs
  - Anticonvulsants
  - Gold salts
• Chemical Agents:
  - Benzene
• Physical Agents:
  - Radiation
• Idiopathic
• Infections:
  - Parvovirus B19
  - EBV
  - CMV
  - HCV
  - HIV
• Immune Aplastic Anemia:
  - Hepatitis, eosinophilic fasciitis, and thymoma

DDX:
• Inherited marrow-failure syndromes
• Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
• Hypocellular myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) (normal or increased number of CD34+ cells)
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Parvovirus B19
• Mycobacteria
• Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
• Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)
• Leukemia

Hypocellular/Hypoplastic MDS:
• ↓ bone marrow cellularity + dysplastic cells + cytogenetic abnormalities typical for MDS
• Suggested by bone marrow with dysplastic megakaryocytes and a normal or increased number of CD34+ cells (not consistent with aplastic anemia)

Labs:
• Peripheral Pancytopenia:
	• ↓ RBC
	• ↓ WBC
	• ↓ PLT
• Reticulocyte index < 2
• EPO Level ↑
• Marrow hypoplasia/fatty bone marrow
• Number of CD34+ cells is much reduced in aplastic anemia

Treatment:
• Improve the symptoms that may result from low blood counts
• Allogeneic HSCT for younger than 50 years who have a suitable match
• Immunosuppression - cyclosporine and antithymocyte globulin

#Aplastic #Anemia #oncology #hematology #diagnosis #management
Ravi Singh K @rav7ks · 2 years ago
Academic Hospitalist and Program Director @SinaiBmoreIMRes, Medicine clerkship director GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences RMC at Sinai, Clinical reasoning,Simulation and POCUS enthusiast - https://twitter.com/rav7ks
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