Anemia

62 Anemia



Astrid Nielssen



1. What is anemia?

Anemia is defined as a decreased hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, or total red blood cell count. It results in a decrease in the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and compromised tissue oxygen delivery. In dogs, anemia can be categorized as mild, moderate, severe, or very severe. A mild anemia corresponds to a hematocrit of 30% to 37%, a moderate anemia to a hematocrit of 20% to 29%, a severe anemia to a hematocrit of 13% to 19%, and a very severe anemia to a hematocrit of less than 13%.


2. What causes anemia?

The causes of anemia can be thought of as occurring in one of the following three main categories:


1. Decreased production of red blood cells

2. Increased loss of red blood cells

3. Increased destruction of red blood cells

3. What are some causes of the decreased production of red blood cells in the dog?

There are a large number of causes of decreased red blood cell production. These can be divided into causes associated with conditions within the bone marrow itself (primary causes) or causes outside of the bone marrow (secondary causes). Primary bone marrow disorders resulting in decreased red blood cell production include toxicities arising from chemotherapeutics, immunosuppressants, estrogens, various other drugs, infectious diseases (e.g., chronic ehrlichiosis), marrow fibrosis, myelophthisis, ineffective erythropoiesis, and stem cell disorders including immune-mediated destruction of red blood cell precursors. Secondary causes of decreased red blood cell production include endocrine disease (e.g., hypothyroidism, hypoadrenocorticism), metabolic disease (e.g., renal disease, portosystemic shunt), nutritional deficiencies (e.g., iron or cobalamin deficiency), and chronic inflammatory disease.


4. What are some causes of increased red blood cell loss in the dog?

Traumatic injuries, gastrointestinal disease resulting in ulceration, excessive parasitism, ruptured tumors, and coagulopathies can all result in significant red blood cell loss.

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Jul 31, 2016 | Posted by in INTERNAL MEDICINE | Comments Off on Anemia

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