CLINICAL FEATURES OF ANEMIA

Clinical features

Patients with anemia may be asymptomatic. A slowly falling level of HB allows for hemodynamic compensation and enhancement of oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. A rise in 2,3 DPG causes a shift of the oxygen dissociation curve to the right so that oxygen is more readily given up to tissues. Where blood loss is rapid, more severe symptoms will occur particularly in elderly people.

Symptoms

Fatigue

Headache

Faintness

Breathlessness

Angina (of effort)

Intermittent claudication

Palpitations

Signs

Pallor

Tachycardia

Systolic flow murmur

Cardiac failure

Papilledema and retinal hemorrhages especially after acute bleeding and may be accompanied with blindness

Koilonychia- spoon shaped nails

Jaundice

Bone deformations

Leg ulcers

It is important to note that anemia is not a diagnosis and that the cause needs to be found.