SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 5

Summary of Chapter 5

Haemolytic Anaemias-Summary Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of this book is related to haemolytic anaemias. The lifespan may be very short in haemolytic anaemia (e.g. as short as 5 days in sickle cell anaemia). Haemolysis may occur by two mechanisms:

Intravascular: due to complement fixation, trauma, or other extrinsic factors. Examples are prosthetic cardiac valves, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, disseminated intravascular coagulation and paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria.

Extravascular (most common): red cells are removed from the circulation by the mononuclear-phagocytic system either because they are intrinsically defective or because of the presence of bound immunoglobulins to their ...