Hematologic Aspects of Arsenic Intoxication

Aluminium-Induced Anaemia in Haemodialysis Patients

“…Anaemia is a key feature of chronic arsenic intoxication [96] and the concentration of arsenic is elevated in the blood and bone marrow of uraemic patients [97,98], It is the trivalent rather than the pentavalent ions which are both more toxic and more slowly cleared through the kidneys [97], Arsenic is partially cleared by dialysis, al though the decrease in arsenic concentration in whole blood is much smaller than in serum, suggesting intracel lular arsenic is not easily dialysable. However, the anaemia caused by chronic arsenic intoxication is usually both normocyticand normochromic with basophilicstippling of the erythrocytes and the bone marrow may also be hypercellular.…”

Arsenic Intoxication Presenting with Macrocytosis and Peripheral Neuropathy, without Anemia

“…The peripheral hematologic abnormalities associated with arsenic intoxication include leukopenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], The anemia usually associated with arsenic has normochromic normocytic indices [3,4]. Megaloblastic anemia has been described only rarely [6,7]; however, macrocytosis without anemia associated with peripheral neuropathy, as in our patient, has not been reported previously.…”

“…Most cases of arsenic intoxication are the result of acci dental or suicidal ingestion of insecticides or pesticides [1], Chronic exposure to arsenic has been associated with multisystemic illness manifested by a variety of signs and symptoms leading to dermatological, gastrointestinal, neurological and hematological disorders [1,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], Hema tological abnormalities include anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and frequent basophilic stippling [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], With prolonged exposure to arsenic, the hematolog ical findings may mimic megaloblastic anemia [4][5][6][7][8] and myelodysplastic syndrome [9],…”

Increased Arsenic Concentration in the Bone Marrow in Chronic Renal Failure – A Contributor to Anaemia ?

“…In chronic As intoxication typical haematological find ings are anaemia, leukopenia and sometimes pancytopenia [5], The anaemia is normochromic and normocytic. Baso philic stippling of the erythrocytes is a frequent finding.…”

“…Anaemia is also a key feature of chronic intoxication with inorganic arsenic [4,5]. It has been shown that the concentration of arsenic in blood of uraemic patients is increased [6], and the present study was undertaken to in vestigate a possible accumulation of arsenic in the bone marrow of patients with chronic renal failure.…”