Subclavian steal syndrome is said to be present when the blood flow in vertebral artery reverses due to significant stenosis or occlusion of the ipsilateral subclavian artery just before the origin of the vertebral artery. As a number of these cases are asymptomatic, the term Subclavian steal syndrome is used when there is a presence […]
Diseases
Splenomegaly- Causes, Investigations and Treatment
Splenomegaly is an enlargement of the spleen due to any cause. The spleen is an important organ located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen, just below the diaphragm and next to the stomach. It lies underneath the ninth, tenth, and eleventh ribs. In a normal person, the spleen is not palpable. Not only […]
Dietary Iron Requirement and Sources
Iron is a mineral vital for performing various functions in the human body. Its most important function is that it is one of the components of hemoglobin, the protein present in red blood cells that helps the blood to carry oxygen throughout the body. Therefore, it becomes essential to know about dietary iron, our main […]
Iron Deficiency Anemia: Causes, Lab Diagnosis and Treatment
Iron deficiency anemia is a type of anemia which occurs when the body does not have enough iron to produce the hemoglobin it needs. Functions and Metabolism of Iron Iron is present in all cells in the human body. It performs several vital functions including: Carrying oxygen to the tissues from the lungs in the […]
Myelophthisic Anemia: Causes, Features, Lab diagnosis and Treatment
Myelophthisic anemia is a type of anemia that is caused due to the replacement of normal bone marrow by nonhematopoietic or abnormal cells. These abnormal cells ( which could be either cancer cells, granulomas or fibrosis) result in disturbed hematopoiesis due to the following reasons: By physically replacing the native marrow cells By disturbing the […]
Postpericardiotomy Syndrome – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) occurs in a subgroup of patients who have undergone cardiothoracic surgery and is characterized by fever, pleuritic pain, pleural effusion, and pericardial effusion. It occurs due to immune-mediated inflammation of the pleura and pericardium. Postpericardiotomy syndrome after is known to occur following myocardial infarction too and it is called Dressler syndrome. Both fall […]
Macrocytic Anemia: Types, Causes, Investigations and Treatment
Macrocytic anemia is a type of anemia in which the red blood cells are larger than their normal volume. The term ‘macrocytic’ is a Greek word meaning ‘large cell’. Macrocytic anemia comes under the morphological classification of anemia; in which anemia is classified according to the size of red blood cells. The size is reflected in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV). […]
Pernicious Anemia: Causes, Investigations and Treatment
Pernicious anemia is a type of megaloblastic anemia that occurs when a person’s body is unable to absorb vitamin B12 from their gastrointestinal tract. This results in vitamin B12 deficiency and produces morphologically abnormal (unusually large and immature) red blood cells known as megaloblasts. It is also known as Biermer’s anemia, Addison’s anemia, or Addison-Biermer […]
Megaloblastic Anemia – Causes, Pathophysiology, Investigations and Treatment
Megaloblastic anemia is a type of anemia which is characterized by morphologically abnormal (unusually large and immature) red blood cells known as megaloblasts. Causes of Megaloblastic Anemia Megaloblastic anemia has several different causes – deficiencies of either cobalamin (vitamin B12) or folate (vitamin B 9) are the two most common causes. These vitamins play an […]
Bone marrow – Structure, Composition and Functions
Bone marrow is soft, spongy, gelatinous tissue that fills the centers of bones known as medullary cavities. Bone marrow is highly vascular meaning that it is enriched with blood vessels and capillaries. Each day bone marrow produces hundreds of billions of new blood cells. Bone marrow takes over from the liver as the major hematopoietic organ […]