What disease state is most often associated with a high cold agglutinin?
Cold agglutinins develop in more than 60% of patients with infectious mononucleosis, but hemolytic anemia is rare. Classic chronic cold agglutinin disease is idiopathic, associated with symptoms and signs in relation to cold exposure.
Which of these underlying conditions can be associated with cold agglutinin disease?
Secondary cold agglutinin disease may be associated with: Bacterial Infections such as mycoplasma, Legionnaires’ disease, syphilis, listeriosis, or E. Coli. Viral infections such Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, mumps, varicella, rubella, adenovirus, HIV, influenza, or hepatitis C.
What causes agglutinin?
Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a condition that makes your body’s immune system attack your red blood cells and destroy them. It’s triggered by cold temperatures, and it can cause problems that range from dizziness to heart failure. It’s also called cold antibody hemolytic anemia.
What is CAD cold agglutinin disease?
INTRODUCTION Cold agglutinin disease (CAD) is a form of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) in which cold agglutinins (agglutinating autoantibodies with an optimum temperature of 3 to 4°C) can cause clinical symptoms related to agglutination of red blood cells in cooler parts of the body and hemolytic anemia.
What is autoimmune hemolytic anemia?
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) occurs when your immune system makes antibodies that attack your red blood cells . This causes a drop in the number of red blood cells , leading to hemolytic anemia.
Why would a patient with a positive cold agglutinin test be tested?
The cold agglutinins test may be done to: See whether high cold agglutinin levels are causing autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Find pneumonia caused by mycoplasma. Over half of people with pneumonia caused by mycoplasma develop an increase in cold agglutinin levels in their blood within a week of being infected.
How do you test for cold agglutinin?
The cold agglutinin test measures the levels of cold agglutinins in a patient’s blood. The clinician takes a blood sample from the patient and separates it into several vials. Each portion of the sample is then diluted to a different level, and cooled overnight to determine at what dilution the patient’s blood clots.
Is agglutinin an antibody?
agglutinin, substance that causes particles to congeal in a group or mass, particularly a typical antibody that occurs in the blood serums of immunized and normal human beings and animals.
How is pancytopenia diagnosed?
The diagnosis of pancytopenia is made from the results of an automated complete blood count and examination of the peripheral smear but, as the etiology of pancytopenia varies significantly, a detailed diagnostic evaluation is required in every instance.
What is included in the differential diagnoses of aplastic anemia?
The three conditions most commonly included in the differential diagnosis of aplastic anemia are inherited marrow-failure syndromes, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In addition, consider other causes of pancytopenia with hypocellular bone marrow, sepsis, and infectious etiologies,…
What is the pathophysiology of aplastic anemia and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria?
A pathogenetic link between aplastic anemia and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria is suggested by a high frequency of aplastic anemia patients with a deficiency of phosphatidylinositol glycan anchored proteins. Exp Hematol. 1995 Jan. 23 (1):81-7.
When should alternative diagnoses be considered in patients with asthma?
Consideration for alternative diagnoses should be given in all patients, and in particular in those older than 30 years and younger than 2 years with new symptoms suggestive of asthma. An absence of airway obstruction on initial spirometry findings should prompt consideration for alternative diagnoses and additional testing.