General Characteristics of Bone Marrow Failure and Aplastic Anemia

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and definitions related to bone marrow failure and aplastic anemia as discussed in the lecture notes.

Pancytopenia

A condition where all three blood cell lines are affected, resulting in reduced red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Hypocellular marrow

A bone marrow with lower than normal cellularity, which can affect blood cell production.

Acquired Aplastic Anemia

A form of bone marrow failure that is secondary to external factors, such as chemicals or drugs, as opposed to being genetic.

Idiopathic aplastic anemia

A major form of aplastic anemia that occurs without an identifiable cause.

Macrocytosis

An increase in the size of red blood cells, which can be a laboratory finding in certain blood disorders.

Dysplastic changes

Abnormal cell development or morphology observed in blood cells, indicative of underlying pathology.

Neutropenia

A deficiency of neutrophils, leading to increased risk of infections.

Thrombocytopenia

A condition characterized by a deficiency of platelets, resulting in increased bleeding risk.

Long-term survivors risk

Patients who survive aplastic anemia may have a significantly increased risk of developing malignancies such as PNH, MDS, and AML.

Stem cell transplantation

A potential curative treatment for aplastic anemia that involves replacing damaged bone marrow with healthy stem cells.