Anemia — not alwaysa simple condition
13 July 2013, 18:00 PM
UPDATED
13 July 2013, 23:55 PM
Arnanb's mother works at a bank. She remains in office till 7 pm and thus gets less time to take care of her child. However, recently she noticed that her five years old son is getting gradually pallor and often suffers from fever, cough, bowel problem etc. Recently, she came to me with Arnab as he is having oral thrush and low grade fever along with gum bleeding while brushes teeth.
On examination, it was revealed that Arnab was having moderate to severe anaemia with increased body temperature and oral thrush. From History, physical examination and CBC finding, I thought Arnab has developed Aplastic anaemia. Bone marrow examination confirmed the diagnosis.
Aplastic anaemia is a serious condition and it may be inherited or acquired in origin. Cause may be unknown or may be secondary to ingestion of some drugs, radiation, viral infection etc. Along with supportive treatment like blood transfusion, antibiotics, systemic steroid and immunotherapy may be tried. But the choice of treatment is bone marrow transplantation. In spite of all effort mortality rate is about 50-80%. Death in Aplastic anaemia is due to haemorrhage and or infection.
So all types of anaemia are not as simple as we think, thus moderate to severe anaemia without enlargement of any organ demands through evaluation for correct diagnosis, better and timely management.
The author is a Professor of Paediatrics at Community Based Medical College (CBMC), Mymensingh.
E-mail: mmukkhan@gmail.com
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