The difference between acute and chronic aplastic anemia

Perhaps few people have heard of aplastic anemia, a disease caused by multiple causes, usually drug effects, which leads to bone marrow hematopoietic dysfunction. Its peak incidence is in young people and the elderly over 60 years old. Depending on the severity and symptoms of aplastic anemia, we can divide it into acute and chronic. Now let me tell you the difference between acute and chronic aplastic anemia.

1. Symptoms of acute aplastic anemia. Acute aplastic anemia has an acute onset and progresses rapidly, with bleeding and infectious fever often being the first and main manifestations. Anemia is often not obvious at the beginning of the disease, but it becomes progressive as the disease progresses. Almost all of them have a bleeding tendency, and more than 60% have internal bleeding, mainly manifested as gastrointestinal bleeding, hematuria, fundus hemorrhage (often accompanied by visual impairment) and intracranial hemorrhage. Bleeding from the skin and mucous membranes is extensive, severe, and difficult to control. Fever is almost always present during the course of the disease, which is caused by infection. Necrotic ulcers often occur in the oropharynx and around the anus, leading to sepsis. Pneumonia is also common. Infection and bleeding are mutually causal, causing the condition to worsen day by day. If only general treatment is used, most patients will die within a year.

2. Symptoms of chronic aplastic anemia. Chronic aplastic anemia has a slow onset, with bleeding as the first and main manifestation; bleeding is mostly limited to the skin and mucous membranes and is not serious; infection may occur, but it is often mainly in the respiratory tract and is easy to control. The main symptom is anemia. Bleeding is mostly limited to the external skin and is not serious. However, if bleeding is not stopped in time, infection may occur. If the treatment is appropriate and persistent, many patients can achieve long-term relief or even recovery, but some patients will suffer from the disease for many years or even for decades. A few will develop clinical manifestations of acute aplastic anemia in the later stages, which is called acute phase of chronic aplastic anemia.

I believe that after reading the above, everyone has some understanding of the difference between acute and chronic aplastic anemia. Chronic aplastic anemia can be cured through gradual treatment, but acute aplastic anemia is difficult to treat once it occurs because of its sudden onset and severity. Therefore, once we find that we have aplastic anemia, we must seek timely treatment.