[Anemia, this time without iron deficiency]

M Gregor1

  • 1Hämatologie, Departement Medizin, Kantonsspital Luzern. michael.gregor@ksl.ch

Praxis
|April 5, 2007
PubMed

The approach to anemia by the primary care physician is to diagnose treatable causes like nutritional deficiencies, renal insufficiency, chronic inflammatory disease or hemolysis. Measurement of reticulocytes allows a distinction of hemolytic and non-hemolytic anemia. Among hemolytic anemias it is important to recognize rare but potentially severe diseases as autoimmune hemolytic anemia, microangiopathic anemia and certain hereditary anemias. Non-hemolytic anemias can be categorized in microcytic, normocytic and macrocytic subtypes. This allows a rational stepwise approach for each category. Most anemias can be correctly classified, evaluated for underlying disease and treated by the primary care physician.

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