aplastic anaemia
A doctor explains aplastic anaemia to a patient using a diagram of bone marrow.
Noun: A serious medical condition where the body's bone marrow fails to produce sufficient new blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets), leading to pancytopenia. This failure can be caused by factors such as exposure to toxic chemicals, radiation, certain medications, autoimmune diseases, or viral infections.
The term is used in medical contexts to diagnose and describe a specific type of bone marrow failure. * The patient was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia after presenting with fatigue, frequent infections, and unexplained bruising. * Treatment for aplastic anaemia may include blood transfusions, immunosuppressive drugs, or a bone marrow transplant.
- The condition is often classified by its severity (e.g., moderate, severe, very severe aplastic anaemia).
- Aplastic anaemia can be acquired or, very rarely, inherited (e.g., Fanconi anaemia).
- Aplastic anemia: The American English spelling variant.
- Bone marrow failure: A broader term that includes aplastic anaemia.
- Pancytopenia: The critical reduction in all major blood cell lines, which is the primary consequence of aplastic anaemia.
- Bone marrow aplasia
- Hypoplastic anaemia (in some specific contexts, though this can imply a less severe form)
- Polycythaemia (an excess of red blood cells)
- Leukaemia (a cancer involving overproduction of abnormal white blood cells, though it can also cause bone marrow failure in advanced stages)
A doctor explains aplastic anaemia to a patient using a diagram of bone marrow.
- anemia characterized by pancytopenia resulting from failure of the bone marrow; can be caused by neoplasm or by toxic exposure