Other Blood Diseases

Conditions and Treatments

Aplastic anemia and hemolytic anemia are among the many chiildhood blood disorders that are treated at UCSF Children's Hospital.

Aplastic anemia is a rare but serious condition that occurs when a child's bone marrow produces too few of the three types of blood cells -- red cells that carry oxygen, white cells that fight infection and platelets that prevent bleeding. This occurs because the child's bone marrow fails to produce enough stem cells, the basic cells that give rise to the three blood cell types.

The low number of red cells causes a drop in hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to tissues of the body. A low number of white cells will make a child very susceptible to infections. And a low number of platelets causes bruising and bleeding because the blood will not clot normally.

Hemolytic anemia is a term that covers more than a dozen conditions characterized by a low count of red blood cells. Red blood cells are destroyed faster than bone marrow can produce them.

Some forms of the hemolytic anemia are inherited and others are acquired, sometimes triggered infection, drugs or other diseases.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007