Definition
Pancytopenia is a pathological condition in which the numerical reduction of all the cells present in the blood (erythrocytes, white blood cells and platelets) occurs. In other words, the simultaneous association of anemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia is created.
The thrombocytopenia is the expression of an insufficiency of the marrow function, which can be established in the course of various diseases of the hematopoietic bone marrow. This manifestation is found, in particular, in aplasias and medullary hypoplasias.
Pancytopenia is associated with various clinical conditions, such as aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, myelofibrosis, leukemia and bone marrow neoplastic infiltration.
The most frequent causes also include serious infections, bleeding, thymoma and pathological increase in the activity of the spleen (hypersplenism). Pancytopenia can also be found in Gaucher disease, congenital dyskeratosis and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.
The iatrogenic causes include ionizing radiation and chemotherapy for malignant neoplasms, if the agent employed induces bone marrow suppression.
Pancytopenia can also be induced by some drugs (including antifungals and antibiotics) and by exposure to toxic agents (eg arsenic poisoning).
Possible Causes * of Pancytopenia
- AIDS
- Fanconi anemia
- Liver Cirrhosis
- cystinuria
- Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
- Leishmaniasis
- Leukemia
- lymphoma
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Gaucher disease
- Multiple myeloma
- Mononucleosis
- osteopetrosis
- thymoma
