Pancytopenia is a medical condition in which there is significant reduction in the number of almost all blood cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, monocytes, lymphocytes, etc.).
If only two parameters from the complete blood count are low, the term bicytopenia can be used. The diagnostic approach is the same as for pancytopenia.
Iatrogenic causes of pancytopenia include chemotherapy for malignancies if the drug or drugs used cause bone marrow suppression. Rarely, drugs (antibiotics, blood pressure medication, heart medication) can cause pancytopenia.
For example, the antibiotic chloramphenicol can cause pancytopenia in some individuals.
Rarely, pancytopenia may have other causes, such as mononucleosis or other viral diseases. Increasingly, HIV is itself a cause of pancytopenia.
Familial hemophagocytic syndrome
Aplastic anemia
Gaucher's disease
Metastatic carcinoma of bone
Multiple Myeloma
Overwhelming infections
Lymphoma
Myelofibrosis
Dyskeratosis congenita
Myelodysplastic syndrome
Leukemia
Leishmaniasis
Severe folate or vitamin B12 deficiency
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (blood test)
Viral infections (such as HIV, EBV; an undetermined virus is most common)
Alimentary toxic aleukia
Copper deficiency
Pernicious anemia
Medication
Hypersplenism
Osteopetrosis
Organic acidurias (Propionic Acidemia, Methylmalonic Aciduria, Isovaleric Aciduria)
Low dose arsenic poisoning
Sako disease (Myelodysplastic-cytosis)
Chronic radiation sickness
LIG4 syndrome
The mechanism of pancytopenia involves either haemopoiesis itself, decreasing blood cell productions in number (aplastic anemia), haemopoietic stem cells are displaced by malignant cells (Leukemia, lymphoma, MDS) or they are being pooled (sequestrated) (spleen)/destroyed (immune) outside bone marrow. The mechanisms for pancytopenia differ according to the etiology. For example, in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) there is marked inappropriate and ineffective T cell activation that leads to an increased hemophagocytic activity.
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Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common symptoms include painful and swollen joints, fever, chest pain, hair loss, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, feeling tired, and a red rash which is most commonly on the face. Often there are periods of illness, called flares, and periods of remission during which there are few symptoms.
Lymphocytopenia is the condition of having an abnormally low level of lymphocytes in the blood. Lymphocytes are a white blood cell with important functions in the immune system. It is also called lymphopenia. The opposite is lymphocytosis, which refers to an excessive level of lymphocytes. Lymphocytopenia may be present as part of a pancytopenia, when the total numbers of all types of blood cells are reduced. In some cases, lymphocytopenia can be further classified according to which kind of lymphocytes are reduced.
A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may include fatigue, shortness of breath, bleeding disorders, anemia, or frequent infections. Some types may develop into acute myeloid leukemia. Risk factors include previous chemotherapy or radiation therapy, exposure to certain chemicals such as tobacco smoke, pesticides, and benzene, and exposure to heavy metals such as mercury or lead.
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