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| Aplastic anemia | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Oncology, hematology |
| Symptoms | pale skin, fatigue, fast heart rate, rash, dizziness, headache, frequent or prolonged infections, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, prolonged bleeding from cuts, unexplained or easy bruising,[1] hematoma |
| Risk factors | Smoking, ionizing radiation, some chemicals, prior chemotherapy, Down syndrome |
| Diagnostic method | bone marrow biopsy |
| Treatment | bone marrow transplant, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy |
| Prognosis | five-year survival rate 45% |
| Frequency | 3.83 million (2015) |
| Deaths | 563,000 (2015) |
Aplastic anemia[2] (AA)[3] is a severe hematologic condition in which the body fails to make blood cells in sufficient numbers. Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow by stem cells that reside there.[4] Aplastic anemia causes a deficiency of all blood cell types: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.[5][6]
It occurs most frequently in people in their teens and twenties but is also common among the elderly. It can be caused by immune disease, or by exposure to chemicals, drugs, or radiation. However, in about half of cases, the cause is unknown.[5][6]
Aplastic anemia can be definitively diagnosed by bone marrow biopsy. Normal bone marrow has 30–70% blood stem cells, but in aplastic anemia, these cells are mostly gone and are replaced by fat.[5][6]
First-line treatment for aplastic anemia consists of immunosuppressive drugs—typically either anti-lymphocyte globulin or anti-thymocyte globulin—combined with corticosteroids, chemotherapy, and ciclosporin. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is also used, especially for patients under 30 years of age with a related, matched marrow donor.[5][6]
Aplastic anemia is known to have caused the deaths of Marie Curie,[7] Eleanor Roosevelt,[8] Luana Reyes, and Molly Holzschlag.
- ^ "Aplastic anemia". Autoimmune Registry. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ Young NS (25 October 2018). "Aplastic Anemia". New England Journal of Medicine. 379 (17): 1643–1656. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1413485. PMC 6467577. PMID 30354958.
- ^ Murray MT, Nowicki J (2020). "145. Anemia". Textbook of Natural Medicine (5th ed.). Churchill Livingstone. pp. 1100–1107.e1. doi:10.1016/B978-0-323-43044-9.00145-X. ISBN 978-0-323-52342-4. S2CID 242292323.
- ^ Acton A (22 July 2013). Aplastic Anemia. ScholarlyEditions. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4816-5068-7.
Aplastic anaemia (AA) is a rare bone marrow failure disorder with high mortality rate, which is characterized by pancytopenia and an associated increase in the risk of hemorrhage, infection, organ dysfunction and death.
- ^ a b c d Kasper DL, Braunwald E, Fauci A, et al. (2005). Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (16th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-140235-4.[page needed]
- ^ a b c d "Aplastic Anemia". Merck Manual, professional ed.
- ^ "Women who changed science | Marie Curie". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
- ^ "How a mysterious ailment ended Eleanor Roosevelt's life". PBS NewsHour. 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2022-11-30.