Hemolytic Anemia | Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Hemolytic anemia is a type of anemia that is caused by the breakdown of red blood cells, an increase in hemoglobin catabolism, a decrease in hemoglobin levels, and an increase in efforts of bone marrow to regenerate products.

It has many causes that include acute and chronic disease, immune vs. non-immune mediated, intravascular or extravascular, inherited or acquired and, intracorpuscular or extracorpuscular.

A patient with anemia may present shortness of breath, weakness, fatigue and arrhythmias such as tachycardia, or can present asymptomatic.

Jaundice or hematuria are additional signs of anemia brought on by cell destruction or hemolysis.

Long-lasting symptoms may even be accompanied by lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, or cholestasis.

Multiple organ systems in the body can be affected by hemolytic anemia.

When RBCs are destroyed, their byproducts set off a chain reaction that leads to additional complications.

It is simple to make the diagnosis of hemolysis, which is based on the presence of anemia and sustained reticulocytosis without bleeding.

Additional findings may include marrow erythroid hyperplasia, elevated LDH, free hemoglobin, and unconjugated bilirubin, as well as decreased haptoglobin, hemopexin, hemosiderinuria, and decreased SICr red cell half-life.

Depending on the severity of the illness, immediate interventions such as blood transfusions, plasmapheresis, or diuresis may be required.

When there is severe anemia, especially when there is active bleeding, blood transfusions are always the mainstay of treatment.

More specific treatment modalities may be used if hemolysis is the known cause of anemia or if no urgent intervention is required. However, depending on the cause, the treatment will always differ.