Pancytopenia is a condition where blood cells are abnormally low, caused by bone marrow disease, cancer, HIV, chemotherapy, and viral infections. Symptoms include anemia, fatigue, and easy bruising. Treatment ranges from environmental changes to blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants, but can have complications.
Pancytopenia is a condition in which blood cells are present in abnormally low levels. These include red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Some of the causes of pancytopenia include bone marrow disease, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and chemotherapy. This can cause bone marrow suppression and create the conditions for pancytopenia. Viral infections can also be the cause of pancytopenia.
Anemia and leukemia both cause low red blood cell counts (red and white blood cells, respectively) and are sometimes mistaken for pancytopenia; however, this condition is a disorder that affects all blood cells and platelets. It is also called “bone marrow failure syndrome”. This is where the bone marrow is unable to produce blood cells in sufficient numbers. A doctor will typically perform a bone marrow biopsy, among other tests, to ascertain the causes of pancytopenia.
When diagnosing the condition, a doctor will look for a variety of symptoms. These could include anemia, palpitations, fatigue and petechiae, which is when bleeding under the skin due to broken blood vessels creates small red marks on the skin. Pancytopenia can progress at a slow or rapid rate and tends to have variable rates of progression depending on the individual and the severity of the condition. Other symptoms include difficulty breathing and easy bruising. Pancytopenia is usually not localized, but tends to affect the whole body and can also reduce oxygen supply.
A doctor will develop a treatment strategy once the causes of pancytopenia are established. You may not need any treatment if the condition is relatively mild. Sometimes the causes of pancytopenia can be related to environmental factors and can resolve themselves when the person is removed from that environment. Blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants may be needed if the condition is more advanced. If the causes of pancytopenia are not established and the condition remains untreated, it can cause infection and bleeding and could be potentially life-threatening.
Treatments for this condition can create a variety of complications. These can include complications from blood transfusions, adverse reactions to the bone marrow transplant such as when the body refuses the graft, drug reactions, and sepsis. Sepsis is a bacterial infection of the blood and can be life-threatening. Younger people tend to fare better when undergoing treatment for pancytopenia, while older adults may have more difficulty coping with treatment complications.
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