This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia Classification and external resources |
|
| ICD-10 | D59.4 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 283.19 |
| DiseasesDB | 29721 |
In medicine (hematology) microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) is a microangiopathic subgroup of hemolytic anemia (anemia, loss of red blood cells through destruction) caused by factors in the small blood vessels. It is identified by the finding of anemia and schistocytes on microscopy of the blood film.
Contents |
Presentation
In diseases such as hemolytic uremic syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, as well as malignant hypertension, the endothelial layer of small vessels are damaged with resulting fibrin deposition and platelet aggregation. As red blood cells travel through these damaged vessels, they are fragmented resulting in intravascular hemolysis. The resulting schistocytes are also increasingly targeted for destruction by the reticuloendothelial system in the spleen.
Automated analysers (the machines that perform routine full blood counts in most hospitals) are generally programmed to flag blood films that display red blood cell fragments or schistocytes.
Causes
The most important causes are:
- Aortic stenosis (most common cause of MAHA)
- Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)
- Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)
- HELLP syndrome and eclampsia
- Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)
- Severe glomerulonephritis
- Signet ring cell carcinoma[1]
- Several other rare causes
Pathophysiology
In all causes, the mechanism of MAHA is the formation of a fibrin mesh due to increased activation of the system of coagulation. The red blood cells are physically cut by these protein networks, and the fragments are identical to the schistocytes seen on light microscopy.
References
- ^ Ali N, Kamran N, Adil S, Pervez S (2007). "Metastatic signet ring gastric adenocarcinoma presenting with microangiopathic hemolytic anemia". Indian J Gastroenterol 26 (4): 185–6. PMID 17986749.
 |
This medical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 3 October 2008, at 16:54.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.