Leukopenia: causes, diagnosis and consequences

Leukopenia - a decrease in the number of leukocytes in the peripheral blood below 4x10 / l. This condition is not a physiological variant of the norm and is always a manifestation of serious pathological changes in the body. There is leukopenia in a number of diseases of viral and bacterial etiology. The most common is leukopenia, the causes of which are: typhoid fever, brucellosis, viral hepatitis, visceral leishmaniasis, miliary tuberculosis, prolonged septic myocarditis. That is, it can be both acute and chronic infections.

Acute infectious diseases can be diagnosed by increasing body temperature, typical clinical laboratory data. Leukopenia, the causes of which are malaria and tick-borne spirochetosis, can be manifested periodically and observed during an attack of the disease simultaneously with the development of neutropenia and lymphopenia. During the off-impulse period, there is a relative lymphocytosis, as well as monocytosis.

In acute and chronic inflammatory, including purulent-septic diseases, the development of leukopenia is an important indicator of decreased reactivity of the body's immune system, especially in elderly and malnourished patients. Persistent leukopenia is often found in alimentary dystrophy, a number of diffuse collagenoses, including systemic lupus erythematosus, nodular periarteritis and Felty syndrome. One of the most serious diseases of connective tissue is systemic lupus erythematosus. It can be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms such as dermatitis, polyserositis, arthritis, polyarthralgia, persistent increase in body temperature, sharply increased ESR, the presence of specific lupus or lupus cells in the peripheral blood and a high titer of antinuclear antibodies. Felty's syndrome is manifested by joint damage, fever, spleen and lymph nodes, as well as symptoms of anemia, increased ESR, high rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibodies.

With moderate anemia and thrombocytopenia, leukopenia is also possible. The causes of this condition are often associated with splenomegaly (enlarged spleen), which is most common in cirrhosis.

Leukopenia accompanies a variety of diseases of the blood system. Such diseases can be anemia and leukemia. The most common occurrence of leukopenia, the causes of which are associated with acute leukemia, Addison-Birmer anemia, as well as with hypoplastic conditions and aplastic anemia. The diagnosis of acute leukemia is established on the basis of anemic, purulent-septic and hemorrhagic syndromes accompanying this severe disease , as well as bone marrow puncture studies and dynamic changes in the blood test.

Lakopenia is frequent in diseases of the endocrine system - thyrotoxicosis, acromegaly, adrenal insufficiency. It is possible and with chronic inflammation in the cavity of the gastrointestinal tract.

Leieopenia often arises as a reaction of the body to chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer. The use of chemotherapeutic drugs acts depressingly on all organs and systems of the body. After the end of the course of treatment, leukopenia, with chemotherapy, arises, gradually disappears. Over time, the number of leukocytes in the blood slowly restored to normal.

We examined the main causes of the decline in the level of leukocytes in the blood. With whatever disease is associated with leukopenia, the consequences of this condition consist in a sharp decrease in the defenses of the body. As a result, with leukopenia, various infectious septic diseases often complicate the course of the underlying disease.