Reticulocytopenia is the medical term for an abnormal decrease of
reticulocytes
Reticulocytes are immature red blood cells (RBCs). In the process of erythropoiesis (red blood cell formation), reticulocytes develop and mature in the bone marrow and then circulate for about a day in the blood stream before developing into ...
in the body. Reticulocytes are new, immature
red blood cells.
Causes
Reticulocytopenia is usually a result of viral
parvovirus B19 infection, which invades and destroys red blood cell precursors and halts the red cell production.
If infection occurs in individuals with
sickle cell anemia
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red bl ...
,
["Sickle Cell Disease - Basic Principles and Clinical Practice" Edited by Stephen H. Embury, Robert P. Hebbel, Narla Mohandas and Martin Steinberg. Copyright 1996 by Lippincott-Raven. Section IV p352.] spherocytosis
Spherocytosis is the presence of spherocytes in the blood, i.e. erythrocytes (red blood cells) that are sphere-shaped rather than bi-concave disk shaped as normal. Spherocytes are found in all hemolytic anemias to some degree. Hereditary spherocy ...
, or
beta thalassemia
Beta thalassemias (β thalassemias) are a group of inherited blood disorders. They are forms of thalassemia caused by reduced or absent synthesis of the beta chains of hemoglobin that result in variable outcomes ranging from severe anemia to cl ...
, it will lead to incorporation of two anemia-induced mechanisms: decreased red cell production and
hemolysis
Hemolysis or haemolysis (), also known by several other names, is the rupturing ( lysis) of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and the release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis may occur in vivo ...
. The result is a rapid and severe anemia (aplastic crisis) which may require blood transfusion.
Diagnosis
See also
*
Erythropoiesis
Erythropoiesis (from Greek 'erythro' meaning "red" and 'poiesis' "to make") is the process which produces red blood cells (erythrocytes), which is the development from erythropoietic stem cell to mature red blood cell.
It is stimulated by decrea ...
– process of creating red blood cells
*
Hemolytic anemia
Hemolytic anemia or haemolytic anaemia is a form of anemia due to hemolysis, the abnormal breakdown of red blood cells (RBCs), either in the blood vessels (intravascular hemolysis) or elsewhere in the human body (extravascular). This most commonly ...
– reduced number of red blood cells due to destruction of the cells after they were made
*
Nutritional anemia – reduced number of red blood cells due to vitamin deficiency or other dietary factors
*
Spherocytosis
Spherocytosis is the presence of spherocytes in the blood, i.e. erythrocytes (red blood cells) that are sphere-shaped rather than bi-concave disk shaped as normal. Spherocytes are found in all hemolytic anemias to some degree. Hereditary spherocy ...
- the shape of red blood cell becomes spherical than bi-concave.
References
External links
Red blood cell disorders
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