Synonyms
Bone marrow failure
Definition and Etiology
Aplastic anemia (AA) is defined as at least bicytopenia (two of the following: granulocytes <0.5 × 109/l; platelets <20 × 109/l; corrected reticulocyte count <20 × 109/l) in the background of either markedly (<25% of age-adjusted cellularity) or moderately hypoplastic (25–50% of age-adjusted cellularity with <30% of cells being hematopoietic cells) bone marrow as assessed on a biopsy (Fig. 1a–c). Thus, for the diagnosis of AA, both features of bi-/pan-cytopenia in the peripheral blood and hypoplasia of the bone marrow have to be fulfilled. Major dysplasia of the hematopoietic cells, tumor infiltrates, or increased fibrosis must be absent. AA can be graded according to the criteria established by Camitta et al., and very severe AA is defined by a neutrophil count <0.2 × 109/L.
(a) Bone marrow biopsy findings in aplastic anemia; Giemsa stain, 200x. (b) Isolated plasma cells, mast cells, and hemosiderophages in...
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Ogawa, S. (2016). Clonal hematopoiesis in acquired aplastic anemia. Blood, 128, 337–347.
Scheinberg, P., & Young, N. S. (2012). How I treat acquired aplastic anemia. Blood, 120, 1185–1196.
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Tzankov, A., & Medinger, M. (2014). Aplastic anemia: Possible associations with lymphoproliferative neoplasms. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology, 36, 382–387.
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Menter, T., Tzankov, A. (2020). Aplastic Anemia. In: Molina, T.J. (eds) Hematopathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95309-0_3878
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95309-0_3878
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