The haematopoietic response to burning: an autopsy study

Many haematopoietic changes follow severe burn injury. Abnormalities in the production and function of granulocytes have been reported, as have changes in peripheral blood platelet counts. Anaemia invariably occurs and has a multifactorial aetiology including haemorrhage and haemolysis. To study these changes further, haematopathological materials from 22 patients who had died of burning were compared with a control group of haematologically normal people who had died suddenly and a third group of patients who had died of sepsis. Granulocytes and megakaryocytes were increase in the marrow of burned patients while erythroid tissue was reduced compared with both control groups. There was no evidence of extramedullary haematopoiesis. This study provides morphological evidence that the rate of erythropoiesis is reduced post burn and suggests that this plays a role in the anaemia seen after burn injury.