Parents who pay close attention to deciphering a child's laboratory tests may find the presence of anisocytosis frightening. A lot of questions arise about how dangerous it is and what to do next.
What it is?
It should immediately be explained and reassured - anisocytosis is not a disease. By itself, this phenomenon suggests that the size of blood cells is disturbed. Up to certain limits (moderate or insignificant anisocytosis), this is considered the norm, in which no treatment is needed for the child. Only a pathological and uncontrolled decrease in the size of blood cells is considered dangerous, in which deformation and functional disorders of erythrocytes (poikilocytosis) can develop.
In order to better understand what, in fact, we are talking about, it is necessary to recall that there are several types of cells in the blood - leukocytes, platelets, erythrocytes. A complete blood count helps to identify possible changes in the size, ratio and size of cells. Particular attention is paid to the size, shape, color of erythrocytes - red blood cells that carry oxygen. If their size is less than normal, they speak of anisocytosis.
Normally, in the general blood test of a healthy child, microcytes are up to 6.9 microns, macrocytes - 7.7 microns, megalocytes - up to 9.5 microns in diameter, normocytes - up to 7.5 microns on average.
Anisocytosis is said to be when the number of cells with abnormal sizes is up to 30% of the total number or exceeds these basic values.
The content of normocytes in a healthy child does not exceed 70%, the ratio of macrocytes and microcytes is 15% each. If this ratio is violated, an entry appears in the medical record based on the analysis results - "anisocytosis".
What happens?
As already mentioned, only pronounced anisocytosis is considered dangerous from the point of view of the likelihood of developing a painful condition (namely, poikilocytosis). Classification implies the following division with respect to the norm:
- insignificant - no more than 30%;
- moderate - 30-50%;
- pronounced - 50-70%;
- sharp - more than 70%.
Detection of anisocytosis is not a reason for panic, but a reason to conduct additional laboratory tests of the child's blood. A significant decrease in normal healthy normocytes affects the rate of metabolic processes, oxygen is not delivered to organs and tissues in the required amount, and concomitant anemia often develops.
Speaking about anisocytosis, as a rule, pediatricians mean a change in the shape and size of erythrocytes, but in general the same concept applies to changes in the size of platelets and leukocytes.
Causes
A wide variety of factors can influence the condition of blood cells. So, the reason may lie in one of the following factors:
- nutritional disorders in a child - when it is unbalanced, irregular or insufficient;
- a blood transfusion that the child underwent not so long ago;
- myelodysplastic syndrome - a hematological disease with bone marrow dysplasia;
- the presence of cancer;
- iron deficiency, as well as vitamins A and B12;
- hepatological diseases (liver ailments);
- anemia of any kind and type;
- primary disorders in the thyroid gland.
In an infant, anisocytosis is often physiological, that is, natural, not associated with any diseases. In babies under 1 year old, the size of erythrocytes often differs from the norm downward.
It also plays a role, what kind of anisocytosis is detected.
In children of any age (both in newborns and in children 3 years old, 6-7 years old), an increased content of microcytes (reduced cells) in the general blood test is determined after almost any viral illness or infectious disease that the child has suffered. This is a temporary phenomenon, gradually the blood cells become normal.
Macrocytosis is usually characteristic of infants up to 2 weeks of age, after a month it usually disappears on its own.
How does it manifest?
There may be no manifestations of anisocytosis at all, if it is insignificant, and only the test results will indicate its presence. In other cases, its symptoms are very similar to those of anemia. The child quickly gets tired, gets tired, he has a breakdown, frequent heartbeat. Since a change in the size of red blood cells leads to a certain oxygen deprivation, the child may complain of weakness, memory loss, and the ability to assimilate new information.
The skin may look paler, the baby often has headaches, dizziness, sleep disturbance (either the child sleeps a lot and feels overwhelmed, or he has pronounced problems with falling asleep, the quality and quantity of sleep).
By themselves, such symptoms do not indicate any specific disease, which is why it is very important to examine a child with detected anisocytosis in more detail. It is important not to view the underlying disease, if any.
How to treat?
If the child's erythrocyte anisocytosis index is increased or decreased, doctors have all the diagnostic capabilities to determine the true cause of the phenomenon. Anisocytosis is not a disease, and therefore humanity has not come up with a cure for it. But there are treatment regimens for diseases that have led to a change in the size of blood cells.
If the child is anemic, medications are prescribed to treat the condition, such as iron preparations for iron deficiency anemia, as well as proper nutrition, which must include foods that increase the level of hemoglobin in the blood.
There should appear on the baby's table liver and buckwheat porridge, red meat (beef, veal), dairy products, walnuts (in the absence of allergy to them). After a while, the blood test is repeated, and if the blood count is normalized, no further treatment is required.
If the formula is again accompanied by anisocytosis, vitamins may be additionally recommended.
If anisocytosis is severe, and the child has malignant tumor processes, treatment is prescribed by an oncologist and courses include chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy.
Usually, after elimination of the underlying disease that caused the change in the size of blood cells, anisocytosis disappears.
Regime, proper nutrition, healthy sleep, walking in the fresh air, playing sports, activity help prevent changes in the blood formula. You should also regularly visit a pediatrician in a polyclinic - many diseases that can lead to anisocytosis can be avoided by doing prevention, and many are subject to a faster and easier cure if found in the initial stages.
All this can be done within the framework of medical examinations, preventive tests once a year, as well as within the framework of medical examination, you definitely should not refuse to participate in it.
Pediatrician and TV presenter Yevgeny Komarovsky tells more about the clinical blood test in the video below.
