Chronic Anemia (chronic + anemia)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Endoscopic band ligation for postpolypectomy gastric bleeding

DIGESTIVE ENDOSCOPY, Issue 2 2003
RYOSAKU TOMIYAMA
We report a case of a patient in whom endoscopic band ligation was achieved for postpolypectomy gastric bleeding. A 76-year-old man visited our hospital because of anemia. Endoscopy revealed a gastric polyp, approximately 12 mm in diameter, on the lesser curvature in the distal gastric body. The polyp was considered to be the source of chronic anemia and was therefore removed by using standard careful snare-cautery polypectomy technique. Four days later, follow-up endoscopy was performed to evaluate the postpolypectomy site, and an active bleeding postpolypectomy ulcer was identified. Initial attempts to achieve hemostasis with ethanol injection were unsuccessful. Immediate hemostasis was obtained with a subsequent endoscopic band ligation device. There has been no recurrent bleeding. Endoscopic band ligation might be a good treatment modality for the treatment of a postpolypectomy gastric bleeding lesion. [source]


Differentiating thrombotic microangiopathies induced by severe hypertension from anemia and thrombocytopenia seen in thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura,

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL APHERESIS, Issue 3 2004
J.A. Egan
Abstract Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a recognized complication of malignant hypertension (HTN). Such patients have blood pressures ,200/140 mmHg but the condition is defined by the presence of papilledema and is frequently complicated by acute renal failure. Here we report two patients with severe HTN (systolic ,180 mmHg or diastolic ,120 mmHg), TMA, thrombocytopenia, renal failure, and, in one case, neurological changes (4 of 5 manifestations of the TTP pentad). A 50-year-old male with HTN presented with blurred vision, dizziness, headache, confusion, renal failure, and a TMA (PLT = 39 × 109/L and LD = 2,781 normal <600 U/L). On presentation, BP was 214/133 mmHg and an ophthalmic exam demonstrated no papilledema. With HTN control over 7 days, his platelet count rebounded (220 × 109/L), LD declined (1,730 U/L), and mental status improved. A 60-year-old female with diabetes, HTN, Lupus erythematosus, mild chronic anemia, and thrombocytopenia presented with abdominal pain, shortness of breath, renal failure, and a TMA (PLT = 83 × 109/L and LD = 2,929 U/L). Blood pressures were 180,210/89,111 mmHg and ophthalmic exam demonstrated no papilledema. With HTN control over 8 days, her platelet count rebounded (147 × 109/L), and LD declined (1,624 U/L). Although in both cases a diagnosis of TTP was considered because of overlap with the classic diagnostic pentad, neither received plasmapheresis. TTP is a diagnosis of exclusion, where there is no other likely diagnosis to explain the TMA. In cases of severe HTN (with or without papilledema), the diagnosis of TTP should be held in abeyance until the effect of HTN control can be assessed. J. Clin. Apheresis 19:125,129, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Wireless capsule endoscopy: Experience in a tropical country

JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2004
PVJ SRIRAM
Abstract Background and Aim:, Capsule endoscopy is fast becoming the procedure of choice for small bowel imaging, especially to investigate the cause of unexplained gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. We report our experience with capsule endoscopy in 24 cases with various indications. Methods:, In patients with unexplained GI bleeding or chronic anemia, the cause could be established in nine of 12 cases (75%), which included angioectasiae, leiomyomata and parasitic infestation. Results:, The yield of capsule endoscopy was highest in patients presenting with chronic diarrhea and suspicion of small bowel mucosal disease, where Crohn's disease and tuberculosis could be diagnosed. However, in patients with unexplained abdominal pain, capsule endoscopy was found to be least useful because 5/7 patients in the study were normal, emphasizing the importance of case selection. Overall, capsule endoscopy yielded a positive diagnosis in 16 of the 24 cases (66.6%). Conclusions:, The experience of capsule endoscopy in a tropical clinical setting is no different from elsewhere, although certain conditions like worm infestation are more likely to be detected in this environment. [source]


Axonal Neuropathy Associated With Cold Agglutinins: A Vasculitic-Ischaemic Neuropathy

JOURNAL OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM, Issue 1 2001
G Bezzi
Cold agglutinin (CA) disease is an autoimmune hemolytic process characterized by chronic anemia, hemoglobinuria, cold induced rash, and acrocyanosis of exposed body parts. Although few cases of peripheral neuropathies have been observed in patients with CA, the mechanism of peripheral nervous system involvement is still uncertain. However, similar to other neuropathies due to IgM paraproteinaemia, such as anti-myelin associated glycoprotein, or anti-acidic glycolipid sulphate-3-glucuronyl paragloboside, the direct effect of the antibody on nerve constituents is considered the pathogenetic mechanism causing the demyelinating neuropathy. We report a patient with CA and sensorimotor peripheral neuropathy with electrophysiological and histological findings of a severe acute axonal neuropathy. Pathological findings show vascular damage in the nerve, suggesting a major role for ischaemic/vasculitic pathogenetic mechanism of the peripheral neuropathy in CA. [source]


Post-liver-transplant anemia: Etiology and management

LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2004
Anurag Maheshwari
Anemia is common after liver transplantation, with the incidence ranging from 4.3% to 28.2% depending on the criteria used to define anemia. The cause of anemia is unidentified in the majority of patients, and it is likely to be multifactorial. Immunosuppressive-medication-induced bone marrow suppression is perhaps the most common cause of unexplained anemia. Chronic blood loss, iron deficiency, hemolysis, and renal insufficiency are other potential causes of chronic anemia. Rare causes, somewhat unique to transplantation, include aplastic anemia, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and lymphoproliferative disease. Anemia due to immunosuppressive medication is challenging, since almost all drugs currently used for this purpose cause anemia, but the renal-sparing property of sirolimus may benefit the subgroup in which renal insufficiency is contributing to anemia. Aplastic anemia is seen in young patients transplanted for non-A, non-B, non-C, fulminant hepatic failure. It is thought to be immunologically mediated, secondary to an unknown viral infection, and is associated with a grave prognosis. GVHD is another infrequent (approximately 1% of transplant recipients) but serious cause of severe anemia that carries a dismal prognosis. Lymphoproliferative disorder, too may rarely rare cause anemia and it may respond to reduction of immunosuppression. Recipients of solid-organ transplants do not mount a significant increase in erythropoietin in response to anemia. In conclusion, though there are no data on the response of anemia to erythropoietin in liver transplant recipients, it appears to benefit other solid-organ-transplant recipients with anemia. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:165,173.) [source]


Improving renal outcomes in chronic anemia: Learning from paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria,

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2010
Antonio Guasch
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Quality of life and use of red cell transfusion in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY, Issue 10 2009
A systematic review
The main treatment for many patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) remains red cell transfusion to attenuate the symptoms of chronic anemia. Fatigue can reduce a patient's health related quality of life (HRQoL), but there is little understanding of the optimal use of transfusions to improve this. A systematic review was performed to identify and appraise publications reporting the use of HRQoL instruments in patients with MDS. A total of 17 separate studies were identified that used 14 HRQoL instruments, but only one MDS disease specific HRQoL instrument (QOL-E) was reported. Two well established HRQoL instruments were most often used in MDS research (variants of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30)). Several common problems were identified in the published literature including a lack of power calculations to detect clinically relevant changes, small sample sizes and significant attrition rates for completion of HRQoL assessments, all of which limit the strength of any conclusions. There is no consensus on the optimal transfusion regimen to improve HRQoL in transfusion-dependent MDS. Future research into HRQoL within MDS is a pressing requirement. Studies should focus on the domains that are of most clinical importance to the patient as well as traditional quantitative changes of hemoglobin concentration. Am. J. Hematol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Urinary hepcidin in congenital chronic anemias

PEDIATRIC BLOOD & CANCER, Issue 1 2007
Susan L. Kearney MD
Abstract Background Hepcidin, a regulator for iron homeostasis, is induced by inflammation and iron burden and suppressed by anemia and hypoxia. This study was conducted to determine the hepcidin levels in patients with congenital chronic anemias. Procedure Forty-nine subjects with anemia, varying degrees of erythropoiesis and iron burden were recruited. Eight children with immune thrombocytopenia were included as approximate age-matched controls. Routine hematologic labs and urinary hepcidin (uhepcidin) levels were assessed. For thalassemia major (TM) patients, uhepcidin was obtained pre- and post-transfusion. Results In TM, uhepcidin levels increased significantly after transfusion, demonstrated wide variance, and the median did not significantly differ from controls or thalassemia intermedia (TI). In both thalassemia syndromes, the hepcidin to ferritin ratio, a marker of the appropriateness of hepcidin expression relative to the degree of iron burden, was low compared to controls. In TI and sickle cell anemia (SCA), median uhepcidin was low compared to controls, P,=,0.013 and <0.001, respectively. In thalassemia subjects, uhepcidin levels were positively associated with ferritin. In subjects with SCA, uhepcidin demonstrated a negative correlation with reticulocyte count. Conclusions This study examines hepcidin levels in congenital anemias. In SCA, hepcidin was suppressed and inversely associated with erythropoietic drive. In thalassemic syndromes, hepcidin was suppressed relative to the degree of iron burden. Transfusion led to increased uhepcidin. In thalassemia, the relative influence of known hepcidin modifiers was more difficult to assess. In thalassemic syndromes where iron overload and anemia have opposing effects, the increased erythropoietic drive may positively influence hepcidin production. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;48:57,63. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]