Hematological Disorders: What's Granulocytopenia?

Aplastic Anemia is a potentially life threatening syndrome in which the affected person experiences pancytopenia which means there is a reduced production of red blood cells [RBCs], white blood cells [WBCs] as well as platelets. The affected person also will have hypoplastic bone marrow which means that fat replacement in the bone marrow space which is normally filled with hematopoietic precursor cells (Cabrera & Schiebel, 2015). The cells produced by the bone marrow are crucial for supplying oxygen and nourishment to tissues and organs, fighting off infection and clotting of

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, is the disease that affects children the most and because of the abnormal cells that are immature white blood cells which cannot help the body fight infections cause children with the disease to often get infections and have fevers (National Cancer Institute, 2002, p. 1). The symptoms that the patient with ALL may have depend on the number of abnormal cells of the patient where exactly the cells collect. Children patients with ALL have low amounts of healthy red blood cells and platelets, which cause less oxygen to be carried through the body because of the lack of red blood cells. Patients at times may look pale, feel weak, and tired causing bleeding and bruising very easily because of their lack of enough platelets. This condition is called anemia. Anemia is very much common in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Fever, fatigue, bone or joint pain, tiny red spots under the skin called petechiae are a couple of symptoms that the disease ALL has. Headaches with, or without vomiting also may occur if patient happens to have abnormal cells collecting in the brain or spinal cord (National Cancer Institute, 2002 para. 2).

This is the term that describes a red blood cell that is of normal size. They usually also have hemoglobin content (medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Normocytic)

Low blood counts are a key feature of myelodysplastic syndrome which is the reason for the many symptoms these patients experience. The three types of cytopenia that people with Myelodysplastic Syndrome experience are anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia which are all low blood cell counts of the three blood cells. Cytopenias can cause anemia, the inability to fight off infections, easy bruising, and spontaneous bleeding. This can be due to the lack of blood cells in the blood stream, but also from dysplasia of the blood cells from the disease. If the cell is deformed, it may not be able to provide the same function as a healthy cell, resulting in the same effect as having cytopenia. Myelodysplastic syndrome is a gradual process and is

The clinical presentation of patients with aplastic anemia includes symptoms related to the decrease in bone marrow production of hematopoietic cells. Specific manifestations include pallor, headache, palpitations, dyspnea, fatigue, or ankle edema (Porth, 2015). Signs and symptoms of aplastic anemia may include nosebleeds and bleeding gums, frequent or prolonged infections, and pharyngeal ulcerations. Patients with aplastic anemia commonly present with symptoms of pallor, headache, palpitations, dyspnea, easy bruising and fatigue (Porth, 2015). Other symptoms include visual disturbance due to retinal hemorrhage, petechial rashes, SOB with exertion, dizziness (Porth, 2015). Patients with aplastic anemia also present with jaundice and evidence of clinical hepatitis (Porth, 2015). Obtaining work history, solvent exposure, as well as a family, environmental, and infectious disease history (Musser, 2006). The clinical presentation of

Immune thrombocytopenia, or ITP, is caused when the body's bone marrow does not make enough thrombocytes, or platelets, and this can lead to several complications. Thrombocytopenia is thought to be caused by an autoimmune response because your own body is attacking its own platelets. The complications that can occur as a result of ITP include internal bleeding or external bleeding. A sign of thrombocytopenia is purpura, or bruises that appear under the skin as a result of bleeding from blood vessels under the skin. People with immune thrombocytopenia usually have nose bleeds, bleeding from the gums, or excessive bleeding that is hard to stop. Excessive bleeding can also lead to hematomas in patients as well. There is

Polycythemia Vera is the most common form and the frequency of the condition is 1-2 individuals affected per over 100,000. The problem is often linked to a gene defect called JAK2V617F and the cause/mechanism of the defect is unknown. Another form of polycythemia, Chuvash, causes abnormalities in the VHL protein and prevents HIF-1α from binding and degrading under normal oxygen conditions. Thus, even under normoxic conditions, an individual would have elevated HIF, EPO, and red blood cell levels (i.e. erythrocytosis). Early stages of polycythemia do not show any signs, but as the disease progresses symptoms start to appear. Individuals may get frequent headaches, weakness, dizziness, and/or tinnitus. Other symptoms include excessive itching, enlarged spleen and/or liver, hypertension, thrombosis, hemorrhaging, and sometimes obstruction of hepatic

Transient erythroblastopenia of childhood occurs when the body temporarily stops making red blood cells. When this happens, the number of red blood cells in the body gradually falls below normal. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the tissues of the body. When there are fewer red blood cells than normal (anemia), not enough oxygen is carried to the tissues. Transient erythroblastopenia of childhood goes away on its own, usually within 1–2 months. Children who have had the condition once usually will not have it again.

Neutrophils are particular kind of white blood cell that aids in preventing and or fighting infections. Neutropenia defines the body has a low level of neutrophils. Anticancer treatment, especially chemo, frequently incurs neutropenia.

Many define Leukemia as cancer of the blood cells. Leukemia begins in the bone marrow and soft tissue inside most bones. Blood cells, including white blood, cells grow and mature in the bone marrow. White blood cells have a very important function, to help your body fight off infection. Leukemia causes bone marrow to produce abnormal white blood cells, known as leukemia cells, which do not provide the same function as normal white blood cells. One difference is that these leukemia cells tend to grow faster than normal cells and over time, leukemia cells can crowding and blockage for normal cells. This blockage can cause pain, swelling and lead to other issues like anemia, bleeding, and infections. Different types of leukemia exist but the disease is grouped by how fast the disease worsens and what type of white blood cell it

The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs.

A more rare cause of thrombocytopenia in pregnancy is the immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disorder characterized by the anti-platelet glycoprotein antibodies that stimulate the platelet destruction in the spleen.6 There are two types of ITP: the acute form that is common in children, is associated with viral infections and is self-limiting and the chronic form which predominantly affects women. The diagnosis is clinical. Thrombocytopenia in ITP is generally moderate but with platelet count usually below 100,000/µL and the symptoms are in direct relation to the platelet levels. Patients could be completely asymptomatic or present ecchymosis, petechiae, purpura, gums bleeding or menorrhagia.1 Unlike gestational thrombocytopenia,

No one knows the exact cause of leukemia; no one knows the cure for it either. Doctors have several things that they treat patients with. One of the treatments is radiation. Radiation is used to try and kill the cells of cancer. Target therapy is also used. Target therapy is the use of drugs to damage the bad cells without hurting the good ones. Chemotherapy is next. It is similar to target therapy. It's primary goal is to stop the growth of cancerous cells. Some use biological therapy with which they transport good cells to the cancerous area to help fight bacteria. Another option is surgery. Since some white blood cells are produced in the spleen, another option is to remove it. These are the ways doctors treat

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a hereditary immunodeficiency disease characterized by failure of phagocytic cells (neutrophils and monocytes) to effectively destroy invading bacteria and fungi. Due to a defect of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate reactive oxygen species production and lack of bacterial killing, affected individuals are susceptible to serious, potentially life-threatening, bacterial and fungal infections but have normal immunity to viruses. They also experience symptoms associated with chronic inflammation, often granulomatous in nature. The mechanism for granuloma formation remains unclear, but the neutrophilic response persists for an abnormally long period at sources of inflammation and results

A) CYBA, CYBB, NCF1, NCF2, or NCF4 gene mutations can cause chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) (15). The most common form of CGD shows X-linked inheritance pattern and only affects males. There are also autosomal recessive forms of CGD that affect both sexes (16). The proteins produced from the affected genes form part of NADPH oxidase. NADPH oxidase is involved in the production of superoxide within phagocytes. NADPH oxidase is also thought to regulate the activity neutrophils (15). CGD patients are unable to produce reactive oxygen species and suffer from life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections due to genetic defects in NADPH oxidase components (16). Neutrophils are one of the key killing components of S.aureus. S.aureus