Hematology

Last updated

Hematology
System Hematopoietic system
Subdivisions Transfusion medicine
Significant diseases Anemia, leukemia, lymphoma.
Significant tests Blood film, bone marrow biopsy
SpecialistHematologist
Haematologist
Occupation
Names
  • Physician
Occupation type
Specialty
Activity sectors
Medicine
Description
Education required
Fields of
employment
Hospitals, Clinics

Hematology (spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. [1] [2] It involves treating diseases that affect the production of blood and its components, such as blood cells, hemoglobin, blood proteins, bone marrow, platelets, blood vessels, spleen, and the mechanism of coagulation. Such diseases might include hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, blood clots (thrombus), other bleeding disorders, and blood cancers such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma. [3] The laboratory analysis of blood is frequently performed by a medical technologist or medical laboratory scientist.

Contents

Specialization

Physicians specialized in hematology are known as hematologists or haematologists. Their routine work mainly includes the care and treatment of patients with hematological diseases, although some may also work at the hematology laboratory viewing blood films and bone marrow slides under the microscope, interpreting various hematological test results and blood clotting test results. In some institutions, hematologists also manage the hematology laboratory. Physicians who work in hematology laboratories, and most commonly manage them, are pathologists specialized in the diagnosis of hematological diseases, referred to as hematopathologists or haematopathologists. Hematologists and hematopathologists generally work in conjunction to formulate a diagnosis and deliver the most appropriate therapy if needed. Hematology is a distinct subspecialty of internal medicine, separate from but overlapping with the subspecialty of medical oncology. Hematologists may specialize further or have special interests, for example, in:

Training

Starting hematologists (in the US) complete a four-year medical degree followed by three or four more years in residency or internship programs. After completion, they further expand their knowledge by spending two or three more years learning how to experiment, diagnose, and treat blood disorders. [4] Some exposure to hematopathology is typically included in their fellowship training. Job openings for hematologists require training in a recognized fellowship program to learn to diagnose and treat numerous blood-related benign conditions and blood cancers. Hematologists typically work across specialties to care for patients with complex illnesses, such as sickle cell disease, who require complex, multidisciplinary care, and to provide consultation on cases of disseminated intravascular coagulation, thrombosis and other conditions that can occur in hospitalized patients. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leukemia</span> Blood cancers forming in the bone marrow

Leukemia is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called blasts or leukemia cells. Symptoms may include bleeding and bruising, bone pain, fatigue, fever, and an increased risk of infections. These symptoms occur due to a lack of normal blood cells. Diagnosis is typically made by blood tests or bone marrow biopsy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chronic lymphocytic leukemia</span> Bone marrow cancer in which lymphocytes are overproduced

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes. Early on, there are typically no symptoms. Later, non-painful lymph node swelling, feeling tired, fever, night sweats, or weight loss for no clear reason may occur. Enlargement of the spleen and low red blood cells (anemia) may also occur. It typically worsens gradually over years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thrombocytopenia</span> Abnormally low levels of platelets in the blood

In hematology, thrombocytopenia is a condition characterized by abnormally low levels of platelets in the blood. Low levels of platelets in turn may lead to prolonged or excessive bleeding. It is the most common coagulation disorder among intensive care patients and is seen in a fifth of medical patients and a third of surgical patients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation</span> Medical procedure to replace blood or immune stem cells

Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce additional normal blood cells. HSCT may be autologous, syngeneic, or allogeneic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues</span> Tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system

Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all intimately connected through both the circulatory system and the immune system, a disease affecting one will often affect the others as well, making aplasia, myeloproliferation and lymphoproliferation closely related and often overlapping problems. While uncommon in solid tumors, chromosomal translocations are a common cause of these diseases. This commonly leads to a different approach in diagnosis and treatment of hematological malignancies. Hematological malignancies are malignant neoplasms ("cancer"), and they are generally treated by specialists in hematology and/or oncology. In some centers "hematology/oncology" is a single subspecialty of internal medicine while in others they are considered separate divisions. Not all hematological disorders are malignant ("cancerous"); these other blood conditions may also be managed by a hematologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bleeding diathesis</span> High tendency to bleed due to a blood clotting disorder

In medicine (hematology), bleeding diathesis is an unusual susceptibility to bleed (hemorrhage) mostly due to hypocoagulability, in turn caused by a coagulopathy. Therefore, this may result in the reduction of platelets being produced and leads to excessive bleeding. Several types of coagulopathy are distinguished, ranging from mild to lethal. Coagulopathy can be caused by thinning of the skin, such that the skin is weakened and is bruised easily and frequently without any trauma or injury to the body. Also, coagulopathy can be contributed by impaired wound healing or impaired clot formation.

Hematopathology or hemopathology is the study of diseases and disorders affecting and found in blood cells, their production, and any organs and tissues involved in hematopoiesis, such as bone marrow, the spleen, and the thymus. Diagnoses and treatment of diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma often deal with hematopathology; techniques and technologies include flow cytometry studies and immunohistochemistry.

Reticulocytopenia is the medical term for an abnormal decrease in circulating red blood cell precursors (reticulocytes) that can lead to anemia due to resulting low red blood cell (erythrocyte) production. Reticulocytopenia may be an isolated finding or it may not be associated with abnormalities in other hematopoietic cell lineages such as those that produce white blood cells (leukocytes) or platelets (thrombocytes), a decrease in all three of these lineages is referred to as pancytopenia.

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GvHD) is a rare complication of blood transfusion, in which the immunologically competent donor T lymphocytes mount an immune response against the recipient's lymphoid tissue. These donor lymphocytes engraft, recognize recipient cells as foreign and mount an immune response against recipient tissues. Donor lymphocytes are usually identified as foreign and destroyed by the recipient's immune system. However, in situations where the recipient is severely immunocompromised, or when the donor and recipient HLA type is similar, the recipient's immune system is not able to destroy the donor lymphocytes. This can result in transfusion associated graft-versus-host disease. This is in contrast with organ/tissue transplant associated GvHD, where matching HLA reduces the incident of the complication.

Myelophthisic anemia is a severe type of anemia found in some people with diseases that affect the bone marrow. Myelophthisis refers to the displacement of hemopoietic bone-marrow tissue by fibrosis, tumors, or granulomas. The word comes from the roots myelo-, which refers to bone marrow, and phthysis, shrinkage or atrophy.

Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma is a rare form of lymphoma that is generally incurable, except in the case of an allogeneic stem cell transplant. It is a systemic neoplasm comprising medium-sized cytotoxic T-cells that show significant sinusoidal infiltration in the liver, spleen, and bone marrow.

Hematologic diseases are disorders which primarily affect the blood and blood-forming organs. Hematologic diseases include rare genetic disorders, anemia, HIV, sickle cell disease and complications from chemotherapy or transfusions.

Ernest Beutler was a German-born American hematologist and biomedical scientist. He made important discoveries about the causes of a number of diseases, including anemias, Gaucher disease, disorders of iron metabolism and Tay–Sachs disease. He was also among the first scientists to identify X-inactivation as the genetic basis of tissue mosaicism in female mammals, and pioneered a number of medical treatments, including bone marrow transplantation techniques. Beutler was the Chairman of Medicine at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, CA from 1959 until 1979 and served as a Professor, then Chairman, of the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California from 1979 until 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur W. Nienhuis</span> American physician (1941–2021)

Arthur Wesley Nienhuis was an American physician who served as fourth director and CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital from 1993 to 2004. Prior to joining St. Jude, Nienhuis was chief of the Clinical Hematology Branch and deputy clinical director at the National Institutes of Health's Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. His research interests and expertise in bone marrow transplant, gene therapy and genetic testing paved the way for many advances at St. Jude, including breakthroughs in sickle cell disease and other hematological disorders. Nienhuis also made significant achievements in the fields of cell therapy, HIV/AIDS research and inherited immunodeficiencies. Under his leadership, the hospital completed a $1 billion expansion, which included the addition of a Children's GMP, LLC facility. Additionally, Nienhuis oversaw the creation of the Departments of Developmental Neurobiology and Structural Biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne Lusher</span> American physician

Jeanne Marie Lusher, M.D. was an American physician, pediatric hematologist/oncologist, and a researcher in the field of bleeding disorders of childhood, and has served as the director of Hemostasis Program at the Children's Hospital of Michigan until her retirement on June 28, 2013.

Guo Mei is a hematologist and associate director of 307th Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army and deputy director of Radiation Research Institute.

Clonal hypereosinophilia, also termed primary hypereosinophilia or clonal eosinophilia, is a grouping of hematological disorders all of which are characterized by the development and growth of a pre-malignant or malignant population of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell that occupies the bone marrow, blood, and other tissues. This population consists of a clone of eosinophils, i.e. a group of genetically identical eosinophils derived from a sufficiently mutated ancestor cell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carcinocythemia</span> Tumour cells on blood smear

Carcinocythemia, also known as carcinoma cell leukemia, is a condition in which cells from malignant tumours of non-hematopoietic origin are visible on the peripheral blood smear. It is an extremely rare condition, with 33 cases identified in the literature from 1960 to 2018. Carcinocythemia typically occurs secondary to infiltration of the bone marrow by metastatic cancer and carries a very poor prognosis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musa Mirmammad oglu Abdullayev</span> Azerbaijani medical doctor (1927–1979)

Musa Mirmammad oglu Abdullayev was a prominent Azerbaijani hematologist, doctor of medicine, professor, and philologist-translator. He was one of the eight members of the anti-Soviet nationalist student-youth political organization "Lightning" (İldırım), formed for the independence of Azerbaijan within 1942–1944.

References

  1. "Hematology". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  2. "What is Hematology?". News-Medical.net. 24 November 2009. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. "Hermatology". American Medical Association. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. "Resources for Medical Students and Residents". Hematology.org. American Society of Hematology. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. May JE, Irelan PC, Boedeker K, Cahill E, Fein S, Garcia DA, Hicks LK, Lawson J, Lim MY, Morton CT, Rajasekhar A, Shanbhag S, Zumberg MS, Plovnick RM, Connell NT. Systems-based hematology: highlighting successes and next steps. Blood Adv. 2020 Sep 22;4(18):4574-4583. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002947. PMID: 32960959; PMCID: PMC7509880.