Blood coagulation disorders and laboratory diagnosis
Blood coagulation disorders and laboratory diagnosis
Coagulation disorders are disruptions in the body's ability to control blood clotting. Coagulation disorders can result in either a hemorrhage (too little clotting that causes an increased risk of bleeding) or thrombosis (too much clotting that causes blood clots to obstruct blood flow).
2. A bleeding disorder is a condition that affects
the way your blood normally clots.
Bleeding disorders can cause abnormal
bleeding both outside and inside the body.
Some disorders can drastically increase the
amount of blood leaving your body. Others
cause bleeding to occur under the skin or in
vital organs, such as the brain.
3. Bleeding disorders often develop when the
blood can’t clot properly. For blood to clot,
your body needs blood proteins called
clotting factors and blood cells called
platelets
Bleeding disorders may also be caused by:
-a low red blood cell count
-a vitamin K deficiency
- side effects from certain medications
4. There are numerous different bleeding disorders,
but the following are the most common ones:
Hemophilia A and B are conditions that occur when
there are low levels of clotting factors in your
blood. It causes heavy or unusual bleeding into the
joints.
Factor II, V, VII, X, or XII deficiencies are bleeding
disorders related to blood clotting problems or
abnormal bleeding problems.
Von Willebrand’s disease is the most common
inherited bleeding disorder. It develops when the
blood lacks von Willebrand factor, which helps the
blood to clot.
5. The symptoms can vary depending on the specific
type of bleeding disorder. However, the main signs
include:
unexplained and easy bruising
heavy menstrual bleeding
frequent nosebleeds
excessive bleeding from small cuts or an injury
bleeding into joints
6. a complete blood count (CBC), which
measures the amount of red and white blood
cells in your body
a platelet aggregation test, which checks
how well your platelets clump together
a bleeding time test, which determines how
quickly your blood clots to prevent bleeding.
8. Anemia of chronic disease develops as a
result of a long-term infection or an
inflammatory disease.
Certain chronic diseases and inflammatory
conditions cause several changes in the blood
production system.
10. A simple blood test and health history is used
to diagnose anemia of chronic disease.
Patients should tell the physician all
symptoms they are having. Additional test
such as a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy
may be done to rule out other conditions.
A colonoscopy may be done to rule out blood
loss from the colon.
11. The bone marrow is the place where blood
cells mature. If the bone marrow is
damaged, it can shut down.
This bone marrow failure is called aplastic
anemia.
12. The most common cause of aplastic anemia is an
autoimmune disorder where the body recognizes its
own self as foreign and attacks it.
Other causes include infection with parvovirus,
radiation exposure, toxins, and chemotherapy
drugs.
The bone marrow failure leads to too few red blood
cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
13. Common symptoms are weakness, fatigue,
paleness, infections and easy bruising.
14. Leucopenia is a decrease in the number of
white blood cells, which puts a person at risk
for infection.
Normally when a person has infection or
inflammation, the number of white blood
cells increases so there are more cells to
fight the infection with.
15. TTP is a rare blood condition characterized
by the formation of small clots within the
circulation.
This results in the destruction of platelets
and results in a low platelet count.
Platelets are the blood cells that help to clot
our blood when we are bleeding.
16. Many times the cause of TTP is not
known. Sometimes it is associated with drugs the
person is taking, an infection, bone marrow
transplant, or pregnancy.
17. Symptoms may be subtle and include fatigue,
fever, headache, and diarrhea. As the
condition progresses and clots form within
blood vessels, platelets are consumed.
18. Plasma exchange is the most common treatment for
TTP.
Plasma exchange involves removal of the patient’s
plasma and replacing it with donor plasma.
Steroids, red blood cell and platelet transfusions, as
well as folic acid may also be a part of the
treatment.