Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine

Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine – General Information

Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine is one of the hematological disorders which are characterized by a low number of neutrophils granulocytes (these are a type of white blood cells). The neutrophils are the primary defense against the infections; they destroy any bacteria which are found in the blood. This is why the patients who are suffering from this medical condition are usually more susceptible to any bacterial infection and without a proper treatment this condition may become a life threatening one by developing into neutropenic sepsis. Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine can be acute and chronic; its grade depends on the duration of the illness. The patients are considering having a chronic form of this medical condition if their disease lasts for more than three months. The causes of this medical condition are numerous and can be divided in two main reasons: either a problem in the bone marrow, which is the place where these cells are produced, or the destruction of these cells in another place of the body. The treatment for the Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine depends on the underlying cause that produces it and usually it focuses besides the treatment also on preventing it. This medical condition may be classified in three types depending on the neutrophil count (also known as ANC) which is measured in cells/microliter of the blood, as following: mild neutropenia (with 1000<ANC<1500), moderate (500<ANC<1000) and severe (ANC<500). These values are developed in Caucasians, and in black people the mild form of this medical condition is a normal phenomenon.

Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine – Symptoms

It is well known the fact that any medical disorder (including the Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine) can trigger a variety of symptoms. Therefore, some of this medical condition's most uncommon symptoms have not been listed (mentioned) here. This is why we strongly recommend you to contact your personal health care provider whenever you develop any unusual, bothersome or unpleasant symptoms. Your personal physician will be able to tell you if you are suffering from Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine or from any other medical disorder. Here is a list of the most common symptoms that a person who suffers from Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine, may experience, although each individual experiences them differently. Although this medical condition may pass undetected, it is usually discovered when the patients develop severe infections and sepsis. Some of the most common symptoms which the patients develop if they are suffering from this medical condition: fever and shaking chills, frequent infections as a consequence of the diminished abilities of the organism to fight the bacteria in the body, mouth ulcers, diarrhea, a burning sensation during urination, unusual redness, pain and swelling in the area around a wound, sore throat, cough. If a patient experiences any of the symptoms listed above it is recommended to go and see the doctor or personal health care provider in order to do further tests and analysis to establish the causes of the symptoms that he has been experiencing.

Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine – Treatment

The causes of the Neutropenia Associated with AIDS and Zidovudine can be divided in three groups, as it follows: a decreased production in the bone marrow (this can be due to an hereditary disorder such as the congenital neutropenia or cyclic neutropenia, cancer, certain medication, radiation, a deficiency in the vitamin B12 or a folate deficiency), increased destruction (aplastic anemia, chemotherapy or autoimmune neutropenia).  The diagnostic of Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine is established after a full blood count is made and also a bone marrow biopsy. Usually this count detects a low number of neutrophils. Other investigations which can be made if the doctor recommends so are the followings serial neutrophil counts, anti-neutrophil antibodies, autoantibody screening, and investigations over systemic lupus erythematosus, vitamin B12. There are two treatments available for Neutropenia Associated with Aids or Zidovudine which are based on antibiotics which help the organism to fight the bacteria and based on drugs which help the bone marrow to produce neutrophils.

In some of the cases of patients suffering from Neutropenia Associated with Aids or Zidovudine another option would be a bone marrow transplant.  In the severe cases of neutropenia the children especially develop fever and when they reach this their doctor will prescribe them antibiotics to help them fight the bacteria and the doctor may also recommend them hospitalization. The bad part is that the prolonged or repeated use of antibiotics can have side effect such developing drug-resistant bacteria, enterocolitis, diarrhea and even an inflammation of the intestines. Some of the antibiotics used in the treatment of this medical condition may also affect the kidney and liver functions. The drugs which are usually prescribed in the patients who are suffering from Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine are the Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factors which help the bone marrow to produce neutrophils and help in restoring the organism’s defense against any type of infection. These drugs also help the organism to maintain the number of neutrophils above the danger level. These drugs also help in decreasing the number and severity of the infections and help in reducing the number of hospitalizations. The bone marrow transplant (also abbreviated BMT) is a procedure in which the defective bone marrow is replaced by healthy bone marrow. The transplant may use the patient’s own bone marrow (which was removed and treated to kill the abnormal cells) and this transplant is called autologous or it can be allogeneic meaning that the patient will receive bone marrow from a healthy donor which matches with the patient’s marrow (the donor in the majority of the cases is a brother or sister), or syngeneic when the bone marrow which the patients receives is from an identical twin. Another way of treating the Neutropenia Associated with AIDS or Zidovudine is to replace the amount of neutrophils in the body, by transfusing the cells that produce the neutrophils. The bad part of this treatment is that it is very expensive and has plenty of side-effects. This treatment is recommended in most of the cases to the patients who are not responding to the antibiotic treatment.