Pregnancy‐associated aplastic anemia ‐Report of 3 cases

Abstract

Pregnancy-associated aplastic anemia -Report of 3 cases. Eur J Haematol 1991: 47: 253-256. Abstract: 3 patients with pregnancy-associated aplastic anemia are reported. Management throughout most of the pregnancy consisted of supportive care. In 2 patients an improvement in blood counts occurred after delivery and, in 1 of these, the pancytopenia recurred during a subsequent pregnancy. In 1 case no improvement occurred after delivery and the patient ultimately required an allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. The outcome of these 3 cases demonstrates that pregnancy-associated aplastic anemia can be managed successfully. The improvement that often occurs after delivery suggests a pathogenetic role for pregnancy in the development of this disease.

Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of aplastic anaemia

“…The disease may remit spontaneously after termination, whether spontaneous or therapeutic, and after delivery, but not in all cases and much support may be needed. The disease often progresses during pregnancy and there is a significant risk of relapse in pregnancy in patients who have previously responded to immunosuppressive therapy (Aitchison et al , 1989; Van Besien et al , 1991; Oosterkamp et al , 1998; Tichelli et al , 2002; Kwon et al , 2006). In contrast, after successful allogeneic BMT, pregnancy does not appear to trigger relapse of the disease (Sanders et al , 1996; Deeg et al , 1998; Kahl et al , 2005).…”

Obstetric Outcome in a Patient with Aplastic Anemia

“…Some authors have supported the idea of pregnancy being somehow involved in the genesis of disease. 4,5 On the contrary, some authors have found no causal relation between pregnancy and the onset of aplastic anemia, supported by similar incidence of aplastic anemia between men and women. 1,6 In young nonpregnant patients, the first choice of therapy for aplastic anemia is allogenic stem cell transplantation, with a 5-year survival of 70 to 80%.…”

Aplastic anemia during pregnancy: a review of obstetric and anesthetic considerations

“… 38 Earlier studies found no correlation between the conditions, and a retrospective study comparing the frequency of pregnancy in 35 newly diagnosed patients with the expected frequency in the general population found no significant difference. 38 , 39 Other reports endorse a direct association between pregnancy and AA, 40 and pregnancy is even included as a cause of AA in some reviews. 41 …”