Severity and Clinico-Haematological Features of Aplastic Anemia in Adults Presenting to Public Sector Tertiary Care Hospital of Lahore: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background & Objective:Aplastic anemia is a rare and heterogeneous disorder. Literature showsinconsistenciesin frequency and its clinico-hematologicalfindings. Objective ofthisstudy wasto assessfrequency of
different severity grades and clinico-hematological features in newly diagnosed cases of aplastic anemia in
adults.
Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectionalstudy, conducted atAllama Iqbal Medical College Lahore from
October 2021 throughApril 2022, a total of 100 diagnosed cases of acquired aplastic anemia were included.
Modified Camitta's criteria were applied to assess the severity of aplastic anemia. Clinical features such as
pallor, fever and bleeding manifestations were determined by history and physical examination. About 3ml
whole blood was collected in EDTA vial and run for complete blood count on automated hematology
analyzer for hematological Parameters (Hb, Platelets, total leukocyte count and absolute Neutrophil count).
Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Quantitative variableslike age, Hb,TLCand platelet
count were expressed as mean ±Standard deviation. Qualitative variablessuch as gender,severity of aplastic
anemia and clinicalfeatureswere expressed as percentages.
Results: In this study, 55% participants were male and 45% were female. All patients had pallor, 61% had
fever and 66% had bleeding on presentation.Regarding severity of aplastic anemia, 56% were categorized as
severe, 24% as very severe and 20% were as non severe aplastic anemia.
Conclusion: Severe aplastic anemia isfrequent amongmale population and at younger age.Thisinformation
has prognostic implications. Therefore, all patients with aplastic anemia should be assessed for severity for
further clinicalmanagement.