Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Myeloproliferative Neoplasms “Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) are group of diseases that cause the bone marrow to create too many red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets.” Normally, the bone marrow would make immature blood cells, or blood stem cells, that would develop into a myeloid or lymphoid stem cell. The lymphoid cell would develop into a white blood cell, and the myeloid cell would develop into either a red blood cell, platelet, or a white blood cell. The white blood cells fight disease and infection, the platelets clot the blood, and the red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. Dysfunction of these cells is caused by the overdevelopment of one of the others.

There are six main types of chronic Myeloproliferative

This disease is characterized by the overproduction of immature white blood cells, known as granulocytes, in the bone marrow. This disease rarely occurs in children, it usually affects middle aged individuals. As in most other Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, this is a result of the body telling the blood stem cells to keep developing into a specific blood cell, in this case they are the granulocytes. This is abnormal and eventually these granulocytes will over crowd the red blood cells and the platelets in the bone marrow, not allowing room or healthy development of other white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This may cause anemia or infection. Other symptoms of CML are feeling very tired or losing weight for no known reason. However, sometimes CML does not cause any of these symptoms. The chance of recovery of CML depends on the patient’s age, the quantity of blasts, or immature cells, in the blood or bone marrow, the size of the patient’s spleen at the time of their diagnosis, and their overall

These include a physical examination and history, a complete blood count (CBC) with differential, peripheral blood smear, blood chemistry studies, a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, cytogenetic analysis, and a JAK2 gene mutation test. The three that are most likely to be used are the physical, the complete blood count, and the biopsy. A physical examination and history is simply an examination of the body, evaluating an individual’s overall signs of health in search of anything abnormal. This will also involve asking about the patient’s past health habits and illnesses. A complete blood count is a procedure in which the patient’s blood will be drawn and evaluated for the amount of hemoglobin (protein that carries oxygen) in the blood, the quantity of the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in the blood, and how much of the blood sample is composed of red blood cells. A peripheral blood smear may also be used if blood is drawn because it checks the blood for things like an irregular teardrop shape of red blood cells, the amount and different kinds of white blood cells and the amount of platelets. It also determines whether or not blast cells are present. In a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, blood, bone marrow, and bone is removed by a needle, called a Jamshidi needle, inserted into the hip or breast bone. It is then observed by a patholigst through a