American Society of Hematology

Haematology
2/17/20
Running Head: ANAEMIA 0

ANAEMIA 1
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Causes........................................................................................................................................2
Tests used...................................................................................................................................3
Advantages and Disadvantages..............................................................................................3
Differential Diagnosis................................................................................................................3
Current Trends and Future Developments.................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6

ANAEMIA 2
Introduction
Hypochromic anaemia is a condition in which the level of haemoglobin level is less than the
amount found in normal RBCs. Hence, the colour results in paler than the normal RBC
colour. It is acquired as well as inherent in some cases (Merritt, 2019). This report discusses
about the different causes of Hypochromic anaemia which includes Thalassemia, Iron
deficiency, Sideroblastic and Chronic-disease anaemia and their differential diagnosis.
Moreover, it also discusses the tests used during diagnosis, advantages and limitation if these
tests and developments in the current trends.
Causes
Iron deficiency anaemia is caused due to low iron diet which do not fulfil the optimal iron
requirements. Excessive blood loss due to injury or heavy bleeding also results in iron
deficiency in the body. It is also caused due to rare genetic disorder named as TMRPSS6
gene mutation, which causes excessive production of hepcidin hormone in the body and the
hormone results in blocking the site of iron absorption in the intestine (National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute , 2020).
Anaemia of chronic disease is caused due to impaired functioning of erythropoiesis and
erythropoietin. It can also be caused due to imbalanced and discrete distribution of iron
hinders in formation of new RBC despite of sufficient availability of iron in the body.
Moreover, the immune system of the patients suffering from chronic disease produces a
hormone cytokine which hinders in the storage and transport of iron from the cells (Means &
Quillen, 2018).
Thalassaemia is a genetic disorder which is inherited during birth. It is classified into two
types alpha and beta thalassaemia. It is caused due to mutation in haemoglobin chain either in
alpha, beta or both which results in lack of haemoglobin in the RBC and hence causes
anaemic condition (Tidy, 2018).
Sideroblastic anaemia is inherited disorder which results from abnormal production of red
blood cells during haem synthesis. It also results from accumulation of excess iron in the
mitochondria at the germinal stage which usually indicates normal or high level of iron in
body (Ashorobi & Chhabra, 2019).